Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress his Department has made on appointing a Chair to the statutory public inquiry into Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust; and what steps he is taking to ensure that the inquiry can begin consultation on its Terms of Reference.

The Department is fully committed to setting up the Statutory Public Inquiry into the serious harms that have taken place at the Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust.

The Department has begun work to set up the inquiry, the Inquiry Secretary is in post, and we anticipate announcing the Chair soon. The Terms of Reference are the responsibility of the Chair once in post.