Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 22 April 2013 (HL372), and in the light of the water supply being fluoridated in Birmingham but not Manchester, on what evidential basis their assessment was made that there are no significant differences in the general health of the populations of Manchester and Birmingham, other than differences in average decayed, missing and filled teeth.

Health profiles maintained by Public Health England (PHE) show that there are no significant differences in the general health of the populations of Manchester and Birmingham that might be attributable to water fluoridation. PHE’s Water fluoridation: Health monitoring report for England 2014 compared a range of dental and non-dental health indicators in fluoridated and non-fluoridated areas in England. The report concluded that water fluoridation is a safe and effective public health measure as there were reduced levels of tooth decay in fluoridated areas and no evidence of potential harm for the health indicators measured. A copy of this report is attached.