Health: Allergy (Science and Technology Committee Report)

My Lords, I put on record my appreciation for the work of our clerk, our special adviser, my colleagues and our chair. It has been a wonderful experience to work with them. It is sometimes quite daunting to be a member of your Lordships’ Committee on Science and Technology. There are many eminent and highly qualified people serving on the committee. Participating in this debate are eminent physicians who are experienced in diagnosing allergies; eminent scientists who know all about the little that is known about allergies; and people who, unfortunately, suffer from allergies. They are all well qualified to speak. Of course, there is the Minister, himself highly qualified. What are my qualifications? My qualification is that I am a strong supporter of this Government and wish them well. More than ever, I am anxious that they should keep in touch with the public, address people’s concern and, as they say, be a listening Government. Working on this inquiry, one thing came across loud and clear: people are concerned about allergy. Every time I told friends about our inquiry, inevitably they would respond with an account of their experience of allergy or that of a family member. My children are young parents, and they responded with concerns about their children. Every few days somebody would bring to my attention media items about allergy. There was a supplement last Sunday, mentioning our report and, indeed, the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay. As the Minister knows, the media make it their business to reflect people’s concerns. Teenagers tell me that allergies are now a topic appearing in the social networking sites. The concern seems to be that allergies are a feature of modern life. The noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, spoke about there being fewer allergies 100 years ago. As we raise our standards of living, so, apparently, allergies increase. It would appear that they are not going to go away. The noble Baroness spoke about regular warnings. Yes, the Royal College of Physicians reported in 2003; the House of Commons reported in 2004; the Department of Health itself reviewed the services for allergies in 2006; and your Lordships reported in 2007. All showed concern. I do not know about the other reports but I can confidently tell the Minister that the British public listen to House of Lords reports. How do I know? I have the privilege of being a member of the Lord Speaker’s outreach team. I have also moderated young people’s debates. Invariably, people tell me how much they value your Lordships’ reports for their authority and impartiality. This is why I ask the Minister to listen more carefully to our report. The public are certainly listening to it. One day the Minister may have to explain why it was ignored. It is not going to go away. This year there have been letters in the Times, one from medical experts and one from the public, represented by the Surrey Women’s Institute. As we know, you ignore the Women’s Institute at your peril. I am not suggesting that the Minister jumps on a passing bandwagon. That activity is reserved for the Opposition. I am suggesting that the Government should listen and hear. If they do not, others will, and the public will want to know why. There is another reason why the Government should listen: money. As the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, explained, nobody really knows what allergy costs the economy. As we explained in our report, this is all to do with record-keeping. There are a number of straws in the wind which indicate that the amount could be substantial. For instance, the Royal College of Physicians states in its report that contact dermatitis accounts for half of all days lost from work through sickness. That in itself would amount to an awful lot of money. There are indications that one in five of the UK population suffers from hay fever. That must be a considerable cost to the economy, as well as effecting children’s performance at school or during exams. The House of Commons has tried to put a number on this: it states that allergy accounts for primary care expenditure of £900 million a year. Although these costs may not be exact, they could be considerable—and when they relate to a matter of public concern, costs have a horrible habit of achieving major significance. So it will come as no surprise to the Minister that when I read the Government’s response I was disappointed that they did not seem to share the concern of the public and the experts. Certainly, the response dealt with our recommendations; they were sent down the line for action and consideration in a most efficient manner. Any sign of shared concern with the public, however, was absent. Dealing with public concern is rarely a matter of administration. It involves political will. Perhaps we were at fault in addressing our concerns to the Department of Health. Allergy issues are much broader than that. The Government’s response includes contributions from other departments: business, regulation, children and families, communities, local government, environment, food, work and pensions, health and safety. It is a very broad topic. That is why so many people are aware of it and why so many of them are concerned. Will the Minister look at this report again, not from the point of view of administration, but from the point of view of a Government who are in touch with the public, listen to their concerns and want to know what is being done by all those different parts of government to deal with those concerns? If the Government do not do that, it will come back to bite them.