§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to reduce variation in health provision between the poorest and the best-off areas across the UK. [131504]
§ Yvette CooperWe are setting standards through the National Institute for Clinical Excellence and the national service frameworks. We are ensuring local delivery through clinical governance and monitoring delivery through the performance assessment framework and the Commission for Health Improvement. On 14 July we published a second set of performance indicators which will enable the local health service to identify where their performance falls below that of the best and we expect measures to be taken to improve poorly performing services. We are working with relevant parties, utilising the record increases in National Health Service funding to improve NHS performance and tackle health inequalities.