Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether it remains their policy to narrow the gap in healthy life expectancy between areas where it is highest and lowest by 2030; and if so, by what amount.

The Government is committed to supporting individuals to live healthier lives and improving access to health and care services. This includes improving healthy life expectancy by five years by 2035 and narrowing the gap by 2030.

A significant proportion of ill-health is preventable. By focusing on major conditions which contribute to early death and reduce years of good health and behaviours such as smoking, poor diet and alcohol which disproportionately impact some communities, we will make progress on reducing health disparities. We remain committed to the ambition for England to be smoke-free by 2030 and we are working with the food industry to ensure it is easier for people to make healthier choices and to increase progress on the reformulation of foods. We will set out more information on plans to address health disparities in due course.