Health and Social Care Bill (Programme) (No. 3)

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for putting those important statistics on the record. Government Members often raised these issues in the Bill Committee so it is helpful to have that clarified with such precision. I want to deal in more detail with health inequalities, if that is in order, Mr Deputy Speaker. While serving on the Bill Committee and as a member of the Health Select Committee, I have always tried to champion the cause of reducing health inequalities. In the Bill Committee, Opposition Members pushed for greater duties to reduce health inequalities to be placed on the new bodies being created by the Bill. I am conscious that there has been some movement in this direction. New clause 6 is relevant to the special administration of services and makes references to health inequalities. I would be grateful if the Minister gave some clarification in respect of the point that I wish to make. I am delighted that the Government have recognised that a market system in health care will only worsen health inequalities. My rationale in making that statement is that at least new clause 6 says that services must be kept open where closure would adversely impact on or increase health inequalities. Opposition Members are not convinced that the safeguards are strong enough, that the safeguards could not be overturned or that inherent health inequalities that areas such as mine suffer from so terribly, largely reflecting socio-economic patterns in society, would not be exacerbated.