NHS and the Euro (Hansard, 29 November 2000)

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath)
My Lords, NHS bodies were asked to undertake a measure of pre-planning for possible UK entry to the single currency. This has been a limited management exercise and resources have not been diverted from patient care.

§ Baroness Knight of Collingtree
My Lords, can the Minister tell the House who authorised health authorities and trusts not to tell MPs how much money was being spent on this exercise, and why the instruction was given? Is this not taxpayers' money? Can he further inform the House of the volume of trade carried on by the NHS with the 11 countries mentioned by the noble Lord, Lord McIntosh of 1316 Haringey, during Questions on 25th October? Why is it thought that the NHS is incapable of carrying out currency conversions?

§ Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
My Lords, we do not have specific information on trade with other countries. It is thought that most trade with such countries would be through wholesalers. I understand that the National Blood Authority mentions trade with foreign countries in its annual accounts.
As regards the implications of potential entry into the euro, if this were to happen the NHS could expect to receive euro invoices under the "no compulsion, no prohibition" rule and would need to be covered by a multi-currency financial system. However, I assure the noble Baroness that no expenditure has been diverted from patient care to undertake what has been a very limited pre-planning exercise. Information has been made available in Answers to parliamentary Questions, or could be made available centrally. Thus, we sought to ensure that 500 different NHS bodies did not have the bureaucratic burden of responding individually.

§ Lord Marsh
My Lords, perhaps I may help the House on this matter. Clearly, the National Health Service must import drugs and equipment from Asia and North America and from various parts of Europe, in and outside the European Union. Why should it have difficulty in adding one more currency to the large number in which it already deals?

§ Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
My Lords, surely that is the whole point of a limited pre-planning exercise: to examine the implications for the National Health Service in the event that this country were to enter the euro. As I explained, if Britain were to enter, during any transition period the NHS could expect to receive euro invoices under the "no compulsion, no prohibition" rule.

Noble Lords
So what?

§ Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
My Lords, noble Lords say, "So what?". If that were to occur, the NHS would have to be geared up to be able to deal with it. That is the whole point of pre-planning—to see exactly what would be involved for the National Health Service.

§ Lord Harrison
My Lords, does my noble friend agree that, whether we are in or out of the single currency, wise preparation for the euro now will mean considerable savings of pounds for the NHS, which increasingly uses the euro base and the developing single European market in medical goods and pharmaceuticals? This is a sprat to catch a very considerable mackerel.

§ Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
My Lords, my noble friend puts it very well. The National Health Service needs to develop the most up-to-date financial systems possible to ensure that its financial management procedures are as effective as they can be. If, as part of 1317 that process, multi-currency systems can be developed, the NHS will incur little extra cost, its financial systems will be better, and, in the event of this country entering the euro, it would be fully prepared.

§ Lord Clement-Jones
My Lords, I wonder whether the Minister considers it good for the health of Members of the Official Opposition to continue to worry about this issue. Is this not a typical "euro-myth" over a matter of a few hundred pounds of expenditure?

§ Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
My Lords, the health of the Opposition is a matter of great concern to all of us. Noble Lords are getting themselves unduly exercised in this area. Surely we want a National Health Service that is prepared for potential possible change. That is all that is happening. A very limited pre-planning exercise has taken place. I would rather have an NHS that looks to the future than one that might be caught out by change.

§ Lord Elton
My Lords, without "getting myself unduly exercised", may I ask the noble Lord—who has twice told us that not a penny has been diverted from patient care—where the resources have been diverted from and how many pennies they amounted to?

§ Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
My Lords, the great bulk of the pre-planning work has been done by serving administrative and financial officers within NHS organisations as part of their normal duties.

§ Baroness Knight of Collingtree
My Lords, may I put it to the noble Lord that he should cease to worry about the health of the Opposition—which is in a very fine state indeed? Will he please answer my question? I have in my hand a letter giving the instruction that MPs are not to be informed of these matters. If individual MPs cannot be informed, can we be told the total sum involved?

§ Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
My Lords, as regards the health of the Opposition, I should have thought that the three by-elections last week told their own story. So far as concerns the advice given to the health service and the letter from Dr Liam Fox, Opposition spokesman on health in another place—and in response to the concerns of noble Lords opposite about bureaucracy in the NHS—we wanted to ensure that 500 different organisations were not unduly burdened by responding separately and individually to the honourable gentleman. As I have said to the noble Baroness, the information that Dr Fox sought has either been answered or could be answered through parliamentary Questions. Surely it is better that that is done. I have already responded by saying that the pre-planning exercise has cost very limited extra resources. To take the case of the Buckinghamshire health authority, a few weeks ago the noble Lord, Lord Tebbit, not letting facts get in the way of a good story, asserted that the authority was spending £1.5 million this year on pre-planning. As the statement issued by 1318 the Buckinghamshire health authority made clear, the amount of time and money taken up by this exercise so far has been a few days in each organisation and equates to a cost of several hundred pounds.