HC Deb 13 December 1976 vol 922 cc494-5W
Mr. Rost

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what is the current year's allocation of funds to the Trent Regional Health Authority; and how much more would need to be allocated to implement the recommendations of the Resource Allocation Working Party;

(2) if he will list the cash resources allocated to the 14 English health regions in order to assess a comparative order of priority; and what representations he has received from the Trent Regional Health Authority regarding the inadequate allocation to that region.

Mr. Moyle

The amount of the revenue cash limit for 1976–77 notified to each regional health authority on 27th May 1976 was as follows:

Regional Health Authority Revenue Cash Limit £ million
Northern 215.6
Yorkshire 250.3
Trent 285.6
East Anglian 120.7
North West Thames 302.0
North East Thames 333.6
South East Thames 314.1
South West Thames 243.3
Wessex 175.5
Oxford 146.6
South Western 216.4
West Midlands 340.9
Mersey 189.6
North Western 294.5

The report of the Resource Allocation Working Party, published in September 1976, recommended methods of allocating resources among health authorities and showed, for illustrative purposes only, the likely effect of its recommendations on each regional health authority.

A copy of the report is in the Library. The working party made no specific recommendations about the period of years over which its recommendations should be implemented, but it is clear that it will only be practicable to remedy the present inequalities over a long period.

We are seeking the view of health authorities and other interested bodies before reaching conclusions on the recommendations of the working party for assessing comparative health care needs in financial terms, and until the criteria to be adopted for making allocations to health authorities for 1977–78 and subsequent years have been settled, it is not possible to forecast their actual effect on the resources available for each region.

The Trent RHA has urged us to accept the report of the working party and to implement it as rapidly as possible.