My right honourable friend the Minister of State, Department of Health (Mike O’Brien) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

The House of Commons Welsh Affairs Select Committee published its report The Provision of Cross–border Health Services for Wales’ on 27 March 2009. We are today laying before Parliament the Command Paper (Cm 7647) setting out the Government’s response to the committee’s report.

The Government have considered the committee’s report and welcome it as a helpful contribution to the debate about the provision of health services in England and Wales. The Command Paper sets out the Government’s response to the report and discusses the commissioning and funding of services and arrangements to co-ordinate service provision.

The Government believe that the core principles of the National Health Service apply across the UK and an inevitable and healthy consequence of devolution has been some divergence in health policy between England and Wales. The Government agree with the committee that the border between England and Wales does not represent a barrier to the provision of healthcare.

On 1 April 2009, a new protocol between the Department of Health and the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) for the commissioning of cross-border health services came into effect. The revised protocol, which has been placed in the Library, is in place for two years with annual negotiations required to agree funding.