Parliament- no agreement

Fluoride: Drinking Water

Mike Thornton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether a formal agreement was signed between the now abolished South Central Strategic Health Authority and Southern Water to add fluoride to the water supply in (a) Southampton and (b)the South West Hampshire area. [158592]

Anna Soubry: No agreement was signed between South Central Strategic Health Authority, prior to its abolition, and Southern Water to add fluoride to the water supply in Southampton and the South West Hampshire area. The position, as at the end of March 2013, was that the strategic health authority was in discussions with Southern Water in relation to agreeing the terms of the agreement.

By virtue of amendments made to the relevant legislation by the Health and Social Care Act 2012, the statutory functions of strategic health authorities in relation to fluoridation have transferred to the Secretary of State.