HC Deb 25 February 2003 vol 400 cc515-6W
Mr. Wray

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans the Government has to increase(a) funding for the foster carer service and (b) local authority allowances for children in foster care. [98486]

Mr. Hutton

Choice pilot projects have been approved in the following areasSurrey and Sussex, Dorset and Somerset, Berkshire, Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire for certain specialities Southern England as a whole for ophthalmology.

These projects will help local health services prepare for the implementation of wider patient choice leading to implementation guidance being issued to the national health service later this year.