LIFE expectancy among men in Blackburn with Darwen has hit an all-time high, new figures show.

And council bosses say they are working with borough health chiefs to put systems in place to continue to move in the right direction.

Executive member for public health and wellbeing, Cllr Damian Talbot, will update members on the latest figures at a council forum meeting later this week.

Cllr Talbot said: “Life expectancy at birth is a useful summary measure of population health.

“For the first ten years of the new millennium life expectancy at birth for both men and women continued to increase steadily, both nationally and locally, at a rate of about 3 years per decade. However, since 2011 life expectancy has slowed nationally, and in Blackburn with Darwen, along with many other disadvantaged local authorities, has fallen in both men and women.

“While we have been at the forefront in raising the alarm and stimulating research into why life expectancy improvement has stalled in the UK, the underlying causes are still debated.

“New data released in December shows that in Blackburn with Darwen life expectancy in men has, once again, reached an all-time high of 76.9 years, an improvement of just under two months in the last 5 years.

“For local women, despite the first increase for 5 years, to 80.3 years, life expectancy remains almost 1 year lower than previously.

“Whatever the underlying cause of recent changes in local life expectancy, the Integrated Neighbourhood Teams and Primary Care Neighbourhoods we have developed and implemented successfully in Blackburn with Darwen are laying solid foundations for further improvement, of holistic, person-centred, place-based care.”