To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 22 July, Official Report, column 112, if each NHS region uses the same principles in its arbitration process on contract settlements between NHS purchasers and providers; and what measures have been taken by the NHS Executive since March 1991 to ensure that these principles are consistent between regions. [40270]

National health service regions are required to resolve disputes as speedily as possible in the best interests of patients and the NHS. The great variety in the circumstances in which disputes arise precludes the imposition of a narrow set of principles for their resolution.