Attempts to narrow the gap between the health of the rich and the poor are failing, MPs have warned.

The Commons Treasury Committee said Government policy amounted to "wanton, large-scale experimentation" on the public with potentially damaging consequences.

The cross-party committee denounced the Government's approach as "unethical" and dismissed claims that it was tackling health inequalities in deprived areas as "hype".

Committee chairman, Labour MP Kevin Barron, said members were "shocked" at what they had discovered, saying: "How can those involved in addressing health inequalities know for certain what works when proper evaluation has not taken place?"

The taxpayer must be reassured that money invested in policy initiatives is making a difference.

The report said that while overall health levels in England had improved over the past ten years, the gap between the social classes had widened - by 4 per cent among men and 11 per cent among women - as the health of the rich improved more quickly than the poor.

Despite the Government's commitment in the 2000 NHS plan to reduce health inequalities by 10 per cent by 2010, ministers and officials had not made even "basic calculations" about how much was being spent on the issue, the report found.

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