Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to require equality impact assessments to be submitted alongside all sustainability and transformation plans.

All public sector organisations and authorities are required to give due regard to the equalities implications of any policy or financial decision. It is current practice for Equality impact assessments to be completed for all service reconfigurations by the relevant organisations, and we would expect this practice to continue.

Sustainability and Transformation Plans are a collaborative vision for a local area, any ensuing service changes will need to take full account of impacts on equality.