HC Deb 11 November 1970 vol 806 cc379-80
25. Mr. Gregor Mackenzie

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what proportion of the additional £110 million to be spent by Her Majesty's Government between 1971 and 1975 on health and welfare services will be spent on Scotland; and how specifically he proposes to allocate this money.

Mr. Gordon Campbell

£11 million over the years 1971–72 to 1974–75. The additional expenditure will be directed to those parts of the services to whose improvement I attach priority, including, for example, services for the elderly and the mentally handicapped. My aim is to bring about improvements in these directions both in the hospital services and through the local authority health and social work services and the voluntary organisations concerned in this field. I will shortly be having consultations to this end both with regional hospital board chairmen and, in the context of the rate support grant negotiations, with the local authority associations, as affecting their services.

Mr. Mackenzie

It will take me some time to work out the figures in my head, but it strikes me that we are not getting a particularly good deal out of this. We are getting this £11 million over the next five years. If the right hon. Gentleman allows for the fact that prices are rising very fast and that the £11 million clearly, at the end of that time, will not be worth all that much, what will we get in terms of actual hospital beds by 1975? How many additional health centres will we get by 1975? Will the right hon. Gentleman be quite specific about what we will see in real terms at the end of this period?

Mr. Campbell

I hope that the hon. Gentleman would not expect me to decide this—the announcement having been made only last week—before consulting those concerned, as I have said I will. One thing which is certain is that £11 million will be available in addition in Scotland to be used where it is most needed, particularly among the elderly and in facilities for the mentally handicapped.

Mr. Ross

If this is an additonal £11 million, can the right hon. Gentleman give me a simple figure? What will we be spending in 1975 on these services?

Mr. Campbell

I will give that figure, with notice.