My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Health (Patricia Hewitt) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement:

Today, my department has published the National Health Service financial report for the third quarter of 2006-07. This report shows that the NHS as a whole is forecasting a £13 million surplus for the year.

We remain on course to deliver net financial balance across the NHS by the end of March 2007.

The report has been placed in the Library, and is available on the department's website at http://www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidanceArticle/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4143035&chk=K/OpG3.

We are also today laying before Parliament the Government’s response to the Health Select Committee's report on NHS deficits (Cm 7028). We welcome the report from the Health Select Committee on NHS deficits and the valuable contribution made to the wider debate on the financial position of the NHS.

Our response has been placed in the Library, and is available on the department's website at: http://www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidanceArticle/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4143033&chk=9%2B3116.

My department is also publishing today the report compiled by our Chief Economist, entitled Explaining NHS deficits, 2003-04 to 2005-06. This report describes various evidence concerning NHS deficits and explores potential explanations for the timing, geographical patterns, and organisational structure of deficits. Its conclusion is that there is no single cause of deficits, although there is more evidence for some explanations than others. The report has also been placed in the Library, and is available on the department's website at

http://www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidanceArticle/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4143034&chk=WhXwaX.