§ Baroness Noakesasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they intend to implement the plans for the establishment of a National Health Service Bank in the form announced by the Secretary of State for Health on 15 May 2002; and, if not, what elements in that announcement will not be implemented; and [HL2756]
Whether they have any plans to develop the National Health Service Bank beyond its role as described in Appendix 3 to the report by the Comptroller and Auditor General on the National Health Service (England) Summarised Accounts 2002–03. [HL2757]
§ Lord WarnerThe form and function of the National Health Service Bank is broadly in line with that announced by the Secretary of State for Health on 15 May 2002. It has been established as a mutual organisation with a management board drawn from strategic health authority chief executives and directors of finance to perform the following functions:
- It administers the special assistance fund providing grants to strategic health authority areas with particular and exceptional financial difficulties. The NHS Bank makes recommendations to the Department of Health on the allocation of funds and monitors progress of the organisations receiving funds against their performance improvement plans.
- It facilitates the redistribution of capital funds across strategic health authority areas to better
WA 74 match the timing of different capital investment programmes. - It manages the programme of cash brokerage to provide cash flexibility across the NHS.
- It administers and manages the budget for funding of impairments of fixed assets on behalf of the department.
The department is currently in discussions with the NHS Bank about the refinement and further development of its current role.