Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to tackle regional health inequalities in the North East.

Health inequalities are associated with the conditions in which people live. In challenging circumstances, Public Health England (PHE), NHS England and NHS Improvement and the North East Directors of Public Health are working to improve these conditions and are committed to supporting the regional economies.

The Health and Social Care Act 2012 requires health bodies and local government to have due regard to reducing health inequalities and this is embedded throughout the NHS Long Term Plan. This can be viewed at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-term-plan/