Lord Crisp (CB)

My Lords, in moving Amendment 247 I will speak to Amendment 248 in my name. I thank the noble Lords who have added their names to it, and I thank Hugh Ellis and Rosalie Callway of the TCPA for their support. In this House, I am sure we all understand that our health status is very largely determined—65% or more—by the so-called social determinants of health: that is housing, environment, employment, wealth and education. The relationship between good and bad housing and good and bad health is particularly close. Planning is a huge factor, with its oversight of the environment, access to nature and blue and green spaces, housing, economic development and much more. Unless these other sectors and planning are involved in promoting health and reducing health inequalities, I fear that the UK’s health status will not improve and may continue to get worse, with knock-on effects on public services and the economy, and that the NHS will simply not achieve its ambitious goals for improvement. My amendment is not about the NHS; it is about health, important as the NHS is. To quote my old friend Francis Omaswa, who used to run the Ugandan health service, “Health is made at home; hospitals are for repairs”. By all means let us improve the repair service, but we need to focus on health improvement. It is therefore vital that planning plays a role in promoting health and tackling health inequalities. My preferred route would be through the setting of standards for healthy homes and neighbourhoods, but I recognise, having tried this line several times in your Lordships’ House, that there is currently no appetite for that around the House. I fear it will come back to prominence in future years, not least because of the standard of homes that may get built. I hope I am wrong.