Dr Beccy Cooper
MP for Worthing West · Labour · United Kingdom
“Its population is older than average—even though I am not older than average—frailty is increasing, multiple long-term conditions are common, emergency admissions are correspondingly higher, recruitment is harder and deprivation exists alongside affluence.”
“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Tooting (Dr Allin-Khan) for bringing this timely and important debate to the Chamber. As we have heard, corridor care is one of the clearest signs of wider pressures across urgent and emergency care services, including rising demand, delayed discharge and constrained hospital capacity.”
“We have talked about the back door, but I really want to talk about the front door. Members will be unsurprised to hear that, as a public health doctor, I know that prevention is a corridor care policy.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for those excellent remarks, and I agree wholeheartedly. As I have said, corridor care is a symptom, and our challenge is to identify the underlying causes, rather than simply measure the symptoms.”
“Every prevented stroke, every smoking cessation intervention, every warm home, every child who grows up healthier and every patient supported earlier in the community means one less avoidable admission to an already overcrowded emergency department, such as that of my hon. Friend the Member for Tooting.”
“I agree 100%. My hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme (Lee Pitcher) has already talked about his role in the water, sanitation and hygiene all-party parliamentary group. Access to water is an absolutely essential health determinant.”
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“We also need to look at the research on air quality, because e-cigarettes conclusively contain the kind of particulates that we worry about for air quality and that cause harm to health. I think that that is an issue arguing for vape-free spaces. In Scotland, we are supporting people to quit smoking in whatever way works for them—we are supporting individuals—but we are actively recommending only medicinally licensed products, because they have that context of appropriate use, safety and quality control, which e-cigarettes do not have.”
“Smoking cessation is vital, but we need to remember that there is no medicinally licensed e-cigarette product anywhere in the world, and that medicinally licensed products have a very different set-up. With e-cigarettes, you are talking about more than 30,000 different variants listed with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, and four or five generations of devices, with very different health profiles. Most of the comparisons are made with the toxins in tobacco, but there are different additional toxins in e-cigarettes, and there is new research—for example, AI modelling—on the impacts of heating some of the chemicals in e-cigarettes to vapour point, where they produce highly toxic outcomes. We need to bear that in mind.”
“People generally do not smoke in indoor spaces, so there is already that public consensus in those areas. When it comes to the outdoor spaces, there is not necessarily a consistent approach across Wales regarding smoking and vaping, which can cause confusion among the public. I think that we need to be considering this very carefully, in terms of providing as much support to smokers as possible in these areas. We need to be considering exemptions to vape-free spaces, particularly in smoke-free spaces in hospital settings, mental health units and places where vulnerable patients who smoke are situated. That would be the message: we need to really consider those exemptions. Sheila Duffy: In Scotland, we put medicinally therapeutic products front and centre with smoking cessation.”
“Q Thank you so much to our witnesses for being here. I just want to take you back to a conversation you were having with a previous questioner about smoking cessation in hospitals. Could you give us your thoughts about vaping being available in hospitals, to allow people in hospitals who are quitting smoking, or who want to continue quitting, to continue vaping? Our CMOs talked about a smoke-free place being a vape-free place. What are your thoughts about vaping in hospitals—where it is a smoke-free place—and about access to vapes? Suzanne Cass: In Wales, we have obviously implemented smoke-free legislation. We have seven different health boards and various approaches to that legislation when it comes to the implementation alongside vaping. When it comes to indoor spaces, there is already a huge amount of compliance with voluntary bans.”
“The product itself is not only extremely dangerous but extremely addictive at the same time. We welcome these measures to address that.”
“How we embed the legislation into practice will be key: making sure that we are getting it to the point of delivery where we can effect change in terms of protecting our populations in the most effective way, making sure that we have a focus on smoking cessation, that we have a consistent and unified approach, and that we have the agility and adaptability to target different cohorts and different populations effectively. From the public health perspective, though, the Bill is hugely supported. Alison Challenger : Similarly, from the Association of Directors of Public Health, the Bill is very much welcomed. It will represent a sea change in reducing harm caused by tobacco, which is still our biggest killer. Significant numbers of people continue to smoke and are still addicted to smoking.”
“Q Thank you for coming to give evidence this afternoon. As we have two of my fellow public health colleagues giving evidence, could I ask what the general response to the Bill has been from the public health community? Are there any significant suggestions from the public health community of areas that we should consider further? Professor Tracy Daszkiewicz : From the public health community, it is widely accepted and supported. It gives us a great opportunity not only to increase the conversation, but to broaden it.”
“The learning that we need to take from that, from my understanding and from speaking to colleagues there, goes back to the CMOs’ evidence about the lobbying that is going to occur. The tobacco industry and partners around the industry are very powerful, so persuading colleagues that this is undermining choice and that it will be a burden in terms of regulation, cost to retailers and so on—those were the arguments that were used in New Zealand. We need to keep a watchful eye, as we think ahead to the regulations and the next steps for the legislation, that we do not open that door too widely and allow those arguments to become too powerful. As you heard earlier, that industry is continually looking for new recruits to replenish those it loses through morbidity and mortality, and that will happen in the UK as well unless we get this right.”
“Q Thank you for coming along this afternoon. You mentioned the New Zealand case. Could you talk briefly, in case anybody does not know, about what happened and why the standards were dropped? What learnings might we take from that for our legislation? Professor Linda Bauld: I think there are political aspects to that, which I will not comment on, but obviously the understanding was that it was a very comprehensive and ambitious set of measures that was introduced. Like this Bill, it was about not just the smoke-free generation but other measures as well, including, interestingly, on the density of retail outlets, which might be something for another day or another, potential future measure. A new Government came in and decided not to take it forward.”
“Q Thank you for coming along this afternoon. I want to hear a little more about the online issue—children purchasing vapes or perhaps being influenced to purchase vapes there. Given your experience as a headteacher and working in schools, how influential do you think the online environment is? Would you like to see the Bill develop more to look at that as it goes forward? Matthew Shanks: Yes, I think the online area is hugely influential for children. It is where they spend a lot of their time—a huge amount of their time—so it would be really good if this Bill could look at that as well. I do not receive any online marketing adverts for vaping, but I am not 13 years old. I bet if I was, I would, so I think that is an element to look at.”
“I cannot speak for ministerial colleagues in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but, as far as England is concerned, we decided that we wanted to target outdoor smoke-free places to areas where children and the most vulnerable people are likely to be. That leads to the logical conclusion that we should target the outside of hospitals, where a lot of vulnerable people go through the doors, outside schools and outside children’s playgrounds.”
“Q Thank you, Minister, for that rousing speech. I will keep it brief. I want to come back to smoke-free spaces. As you say, the Bill will lead to smoke-free spaces outside schools, children’s playgrounds and hospitals. That is all very laudable and evidence based, but it is important, if you can, that you address the issue around hospitality settings. Please state to the Committee why they are not in the Bill as it stands. Andrew Gwynne: We wanted to have a proportionate approach. We recognise the difficulty that the hospitality sector has gone through and is in. We listened to the voices of concern.”
“I thank the shadow Secretary of State. As a public health doctor, I am delighted to hear him speak so freely, openly and positively about all the great things that this legislation will bring, but I remain unclear whether he will be voting in support of this generation-defining public health Bill this evening.”
“As ASH puts it: “Vaping is an adult quitting aid, not a children’s toy.” The chief medical officer further underlines this by stating: “If you smoke, vaping is much safer; if you don’t smoke, don’t vape; marketing vapes to children is utterly unacceptable.” This Bill will give the Government far greater control over the marketing and design of vapes and the flexibility to adjust regulations in the future if the market or evidence changes.”
“Other Members have talked about the appalling health inequalities in this country and how the Bill will really contribute to reducing them. So it is right that this Bill will phase out the sale of tobacco and create a smokefree generation. Already ever fewer people smoke, and this legislation will increase the rate of decline. By increasing the age of sale by one year every year we can expect smoking rates among 14 to 30-year-olds to reach zero by 2050. As a mum of two young sons, I greatly welcome that. I welcome, too, the increased powers to tackle vaping in the Government’s Bill. Vaping can be an effective aid for adult smokers to quit, but much tougher measures are needed to regulate products designed to appeal to young people.”
“Mark Twain is reported to have said: “Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world…I’ve done it thousands of times.” In my career to date I have been fortunate enough to undertake smoking cessation training and I can testify to the incredible amount of hard work and determination that both the quitter and the adviser put in to overcome the nicotine receptors that demand to be fed. This is an addiction, not a choice. So it is better by far not to start this destructive habit in the first place. Currently, every day about 350 young adults still start smoking and about 160 people are diagnosed with cancer caused by smoking. Smoking is still the leading cause of premature death and disability in the UK, and is responsible for half the difference in healthy life expectancy between rich and poor.”
“It is a privilege to take part in this debate and to hear the broad consensus across the House on this excellent Bill. We have come a long way since the 2004 White Paper proposed a smoking ban in almost all public places in England and Wales. Smoking on public transport and in workplaces now feels inconceivable thanks to decades of work by campaigners and public health professionals and bold action from Government. As a public health consultant, I pay special tribute to my public health colleagues who have worked so tirelessly in this area, from the seminal 1956 research undertaken by Sir Richard Doll and team that first established the link between smoking and lung cancer—something we take for granted today—through to the smoking cessation advisers who work daily to help people combat this destructive addiction.”
“I wholeheartedly agree. Vending machines are often forgotten, but they are used for sales and marketing, and sometimes in ways we do not understand.”
“In this Bill, I am delighted to see the evidence and data provided by my profession working in synergy with this Government’s policy development to bring forward a Bill that will allow our young people to enjoy healthier futures and allow us all to live in a healthier environment. I thank all Members across the House for their work on this issue, and I offer my wholehearted support for the Bill.”
“I do not disagree. The Bill will give the Government far greater control over the marketing side of vapes and the flexibility to adjust regulations in the future. Life evolves outside this Chamber, and we need to be able to evolve with it flexibly. Alongside the measures in this Bill, this Government have made important commitments to integrating smoking cessation into routine care and ensuring that the most disadvantaged groups are not left behind as we move towards a smokefree Britain. When I was undertaking my training in public health, a director of public health told me that our profession is where medicine meets politics—I am not sure how he would feel about me going into politics, but there we go.”
“Each year millions of patients in England interact with two or more different hospital trusts. Most of the trusts that commonly see the same patients do not use the same record systems. What steps is the Minister taking with Cabinet colleagues to utilise the Centre for Improving Data Collaboration and other available technology to improve data sharing across NHS hospital trusts?”
“T10. The renewed focus on prevention in our health system is welcome, but under the previous Government, the public health grant that facilitates much of that work was cut by 28%. Has the Minister, in partnership with the Treasury, considered when we might be able to address that public health funding issue, which is essential to enabling progress in prevention?”
“The package announced this weekend of 20 hours of funded wraparound childcare for families deployed overseas is very welcome. Can the Minister please assure us that this type of practical assistance will be a fundamental pillar of the Government’s support for forces families?”
“Research estimates that as many as 170 dolphins and other mammals are caught and killed every year off the Sussex coast, yet no bycatch data is recorded. Will the Secretary of State please outline how he is ensuring that supertrawlers operating in UK waters are fulfilling their legal duty to report marine mammal bycatch to the Marine Management Organisation?”
“T5. According to the Darzi report, there has been a substantial decline in the social determinants of health, such as poor-quality housing, access to clean air and good nutrition. How is the Minister working with Cabinet colleagues to include health in policies that address those social determinants of health and tackle the health inequalities that are the legacy the Conservative Government left the country to deal with?”
“We know that our public services and NHS cannot be fixed overnight, but I congratulate the Chancellor on delivering a Budget that has given us a firm marker of intention and direction. The measure of our collective health and wellbeing is not GDP per capita alone. We can rebuild the services that we need to lead healthy and productive lives, and with this Labour Government, we will all thrive.”
“As well as the 3.2% real-terms increase in local authority core spending power, the additional £500 million going into the affordable homes programme will kick-start an increase in decent, affordable social housing and finally begin to address some of the unacceptable emergency accommodation that our constituents find themselves in while waiting far too long on our housing waiting lists. As we move forward and build on the healthy economic foundations outlined in this Budget, I look forward to considering the reforms that will be needed for social care. The £600 million grant funding for it is a good starting point for the necessary work to come. Similarly, the public health grants in local government must be protected and funded properly in order for us to move sustainably from treatment to prevention.”
“That will go some way towards taking the pressure off our A&E departments. I would like to highlight a couple of the investments made beyond our NHS that are so vital for our health. I am delighted to see investment in giving all children the best start in life, with spending on early years and family services rising to £8 billion. The £30 million expansion of breakfast clubs will ensure that children start their days with a meal and positive social time. I have seen how much value is added when the catering is integrated into a school’s wider vision for health, wellbeing and pastoral care. I am also encouraged to see that the debilitating cuts to local government funding in recent years have finally stopped, and that a plan has been put in place to support essential providers of frontline services in continuing their vital work.”
“A healthy economy means healthy people, but let us not forget that, conversely, healthy people are the backbone of a healthy economy. This Budget is working its way through some very difficult circumstances and dealing with problems that have been ignored for far too long. Problems in our economy have had an adverse effect on the health of the people we are here to serve, so I am heartened to see that this Budget is aware of the need not only to get the financial engine room running again, but to rebuild the foundations of good health for this country. This Budget rightly prioritises the NHS, with vital capital investment and increased spending. I know that many of my constituents and those across the country will welcome the announcement of funding for mental health crisis centres, providing services that are so desperately needed.”
“11. If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of section 8 of the national planning policy framework on the number of fast food outlets.”
“I thank the Minister for the update. Will he consider working with Cabinet and Health colleagues to empower local authorities to regulate physical junk food adverts around schools and on public transport?”
“T9. The United Nations calculates the human development index, which ranks countries based on GDP per capita, but also includes health and education measures such as life expectancy and school enrolment. As an integral part of our mission-led Government, will the Minister please outline the steps they are taking across Departments to ensure health indicators can be considered alongside economic indicators, as a measure of sustainable growth for our country?”
“In 2021, the Justice Committee highlighted the fact that too many offenders were imprisoned because community orders with mental health requirements were unavailable in many areas across the country. Does the Lord Chancellor agree that we must now work across the health and justice systems to ensure that adequate provision is available in this essential area?”
“Public health interventions cost only a quarter of the amount that clinical interventions do to add an extra year to life expectancy, so does my hon. Friend agree that the reduction of the public health grant was an appalling false economy and should be restored, as soon as finances allow, to at least 2015-16 levels of funding?”
“GPs are currently leaving in their droves, and even though many people are coming forward as GP trainees, it has been said in this Chamber that we must ensure that we retain our GP colleagues. This issue is particularly acute in deprived areas. As a public health consultant, I know that health inequalities are one of the major issues in this country. In order to address that, and to ensure that prevention is writ large for those areas of health inequality, we must make sure that we are retaining our GP colleagues in those areas.”
“I know that the Public Accounts Committee was looking at this issue prior to the election. As a new member of the Health and Social Care Committee, I will encourage the continuation of that work. Secondly, we spoke earlier about a mixed model of GP provision and how that will work. In my constituency, the Worthing integrated care centre is due to open very soon. It is part of a neighbourhood model, where GPs will work with other healthcare professionals to provide a holistic wraparound service. As has been demonstrated in this Chamber today, there are already partner practices that are working effectively. This is about the interaction between neighbourhood hubs and those partner practices. It is pragmatic politics to get those to work, and work well, for our GP colleagues. Finally, we have talked about the national retention strategy.”
“As a public health consultant, I want to fight for our GPs and make sure that they have the resources they need, and I want to highlight three things today. I often speak to the Royal College of General Practitioners, and we are in sync on these three things. The first is the long-term workforce plan. It is due for review next year. It has been underfunded in previous times, and we have to look at the modelling that is in the workforce plan now. If we are moving from a hospital model to a community model, we have to look at the rate of increase that we expect in our GP service. It currently stands at 4% for GPs and 49% for hospital consultants. This is in no way to denigrate my colleagues who are hospital consultants—they are incredibly important—but we need to review this workforce plan.”
“The Darzi review has effectively shone a spotlight on the key issues that GPs and all in the healthcare profession have experienced over the past 14 years. It rightly highlights the detrimental impact of austerity and the increased pressure that the pandemic put on an already stressed service. It also draws attention to the ongoing excellent work that is being done by NHS staff across the country in spite of, rather than because of, the facilities, systems and processes that are not fit for purpose and must now undergo intelligent reform. Primary care is an essential part of our health system. It is where prevention meets treatment, and GPs can effectively undertake secondary prevention to keep people well for longer—for example, people with chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension.”
“I apologise, Madam Deputy Speaker. I just wanted to make the point that we need to be mindful that young people are in a time of cognitive development—a formative time, when it comes to what they understand. Banning the advertising of vapes to young children, and making sure that the packaging is not attractive to them, is incredibly important.”
“Coastal areas, including my constituency of Worthing West, experience lower life expectancy and higher preventable ill health than many non-coastal areas. That is directly related to the fact that they often have higher levels of socioeconomic deprivation. What steps is my right hon. Friend taking to address the specific inequalities in coastal communities?”
“T3. Raw sewage was discharged into our rivers and seas for a shocking 4 million hours last year. Will the Minister reassure our coastal communities, including my own in Worthing West, that water companies will be held accountable for the necessary investment to address the systemic and chronic pollution of our waters?”
“The Darzi report published earlier today clearly outlines the importance of prevention. One aspect of that is the provision of good-quality school meals and increasing the uptake of free school meals. May I request consideration of a debate on an opt-out free school meals scheme, perhaps on the basis of universal credit?”
“T9. Worthing West is 90% developed, and I am often contacted by residents who support new developments—particularly social rents and for first-time buyers—but are concerned that we must also value our increasingly urban green spaces. What steps are being taken to balance urban green space provision with our need for housing, to ensure all our communities are able to thrive and stay healthy?”
“May I ask the Leader of the House to find time for a debate on the long-overdue need to update gambling regulations? The most recent legislation is from 2005, which was long before the growth of online and mobile opportunities. I recently met representatives of Gambling with Lives in my constituency and heard some heartbreaking stories about people who have lost their loved ones to the terrible illness of addiction. The law should protect children and vulnerable adults, with more effective regulation. Will she please allow a debate in Government time on this issue?”
“A Government who focus on the health and wellbeing of the people we serve are a Government who enable us to rise together to face the challenges of both today and tomorrow.”
“As Sir Michael Marmot so saliently put it, “If health has stopped improving it is a sign that society has stopped improving.” When people become physically and mentally ill, potential is lost, and before you know it, your country does not have a national health service; it has an overwhelmed national sickness service. I am so proud and privileged to be part of the Labour intake of 2024. For too long now, our politics has been making people sick. This is the start of a journey that I very much hope will lead to a politics that helps to keep people well for many generations to come. Reducing inequality and inequity will allow everyone to do better. The politics of health is the narrative of our nation.”
“The causal link between poor housing conditions and poor health outcomes is long established, with health outcomes associated with poor housing costing the NHS an estimated £1.4 billion every year. We know that exposure to poor housing conditions, including damp, cold, mould and noise, is strongly associated with poor health, both physical and mental. Inequalities in life expectancy are increasing, especially for women. In Worthing West, a woman living in one of our poorest areas will live an average of 8.3 years less than a woman living in one of our wealthiest areas, and for the population as a whole, the time spent in poor health is increasing.”
“The resources required to meet basic human needs should be available to everyone, regardless of where we live or which family we are born into. For people like me in public health and politics, there is a wealth of data and evidence—as well as, I would contend, basic common sense—showing that when resources are not allocated fairly to allow everyone’s basic human needs to be met, we all suffer for it. People do not thrive without clean water, clean air, access to green space and good food. Our physical bodies become far less resilient to illness when those are not available to us, and the same is true of poor housing, poor education and poor jobs.”
“The results of the covid inquiry, published last week, revealed the clear conclusion that investment in preventive measures is always money well spent, and that was sadly lacking before the pandemic. Public health funding was cut by 25% between 2015 and 2024, so there are some salient lessons to be learned quickly about prevention being better than cure. My time in local government, as a public health consultant and subsequently as a councillor and council leader, taught me that politics is often the frontline where we grapple with the issues that arise from inequality and inequity—two indicators which tell us that the decisions made by those of us in a position of influence are not yet decisions that are maximising the health and wellbeing of the people we represent.”
“I appreciate that today’s debate primarily concerns home affairs and immigration, so I will talk about public health on the basis of the explicit principle that health is essential in all things to ensure safety and security for all people. As part of my public health training I spent time with the Health Protection Agency, now part of Public Health England. That training stood me in particularly good stead during the pandemic, when I found myself with a daily slot on BBC Radio Sussex talking about covid, debunking myths and providing reassurance that our fantastic scientists and public health specialists were doing everything possible to develop vaccinations and to keep us safe.”