§ Mr. PondTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will carry out an assessment of the impact of his Department's current policies on the(a) income, (b) employment opportunities and (c) living standards, of the poorest 30 per cent. of the population. [23335]
§ Ms JowellWe have asked the former Chief Medical Officer, Sir Donald Acheson, to carry out an independent inquiry into inequalities in health. His remit is to review the latest information on inequalities and thus identify priority areas for future policy development. His report will be published later this year and will be used to develop the White Paper on the Government's new health strategy, alongside the responses to public consultation on the Green Paper "Our Healthier Nation", which we expect to publish soon.
We envisage that action to reduce inequalities in health will be developed through the establishment of health action zones, healthy living centres and health improvement programmes, as well as by other means.