Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his Department's policy of the conclusion of the report by HCV Action, entitled Health and Wellbeing Boards and Hepatitis C, published in May 2014, that 52 per cent of Health and Wellbeing Board joint strategic needs assessments in England make no mention of hepatitis C.

Officials from the Department, Public Health England (PHE) and NHS England are currently discussing how hepatitis C services might be strengthened, including how local Health and Wellbeing Boards can be encouraged to include hepatitis C in their Joint Strategic Needs Assessments, where appropriate. The findings of the HCV Action report will help to inform those discussions.

PHE is developing local profiles that include indicators of performance for hepatitis C which are aimed at local authorities and Health and Wellbeing Boards. These profiles include a summary of the issues around hepatitis C including those most at risk, as well as questions for Health and Wellbeing Boards to ask about local provision of hepatitis C services. PHE has produced a fact sheet for the Local Government Association on hepatitis B and C to support their scrutiny and oversight role.