§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the contributions which have been made by his Department in each year since 1979 towards doctors' and nurses' annual pay awards.
§ Mr. Kenneth Clarke[pursuant to his reply, 22 July 1985]: Between 1979–80 and 1981–82 no adjustments were made during the financial year in regional health authorities' cash limit provision for the funding of pay awards. Estimated shortfalls were restored in the following year's cash limit. Figures by staff group are not readily available.
From 1982 onwards, the initial cash limits of health authorities did not include full provision for pay increases. The table shows the additions made to health authorities' initial cash limit provision in the years 1982–83 to 1984–85. The additions made in 1982–83 to 1984–85 were carried forward to the following years.
Nurses and Midwives Doctors and Dentists £ million £ million 1982–83 *45 13 1983–84 †— 29 1984–85 100 12 * Includes Professions Supplementary to Medicine. † Initial cash limit provision for 1983–84 included full funding for the second stage of the 1982 settlement. For 1985–86, we abandoned this system of mid-year adjustments to cash limits and set a cash limit to finance all the costs of providing services, including the cost of pay awards, within the year.