§ Mr. Hordernasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish a table showing the total cost of wages and salaries and their percentage increase each year since 1970 for the National Health Service.
§ Mr. Patrick JenkinThe information requested is given below:
Total cost of wages and salaries (£000s) Percentage increase on previous year 1970–71 715,066 — 1971–72 831,400 16.3 1972–73 995,191 14.9 1973–74 1,100,087 15.2 1974–75 1,810,146 (see Note 2) 1975–76 2,379,896 31.5 1976–77 2,715,827 14.1 1977–78 2,948,159 8.6 1978–79 3,307,560 12.2 1979–80 4,026,994 21.8 Notes:
1. The figure relate to the NHS in England only and were compiled from accounts submitted by health authorities (including the Dental Estimates Board and Joint Pricing Committee or Prescription Pricing Authority) for each of the respective years. The figures are of gross pay and include employers national insurance and superannuation contributions.
2. The total costs of wages and salaries for 1974–75 and succeeding years are not comparable with the figures for earlier years because they include expenditure relating to services which prior to the Health Service reorganisation were provided by local authorities.
3. The figures for 1974–75 contain an element of estimation in that they were calculated from an incomplete return from authorities