To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether any of the new marginal tariff payments proposed by NHS England for specialised services activity will be zero.

The proposed gain and risk share arrangement for acute specialised services would operate on the following basis: if the actual value of relevant activity undertaken by the provider is higher than the base value of specialised services 2013-14 activity levels, then the provider will receive 50% of the value of this over-performance. If the actual value of relevant activity undertaken by the provider is lower than the base value, then the provider will benefit from receiving 50% of the difference between actual performance and the base value. If the actual contract value equals the base value, then no payment adjustment will be required. A provider would have a base value of zero if they had no contract for the provision of prescribed specialised services, in which case this new policy would not affect them.