§ Sir E. Graham-Littleasked the Minister of Health why the Estimate for the National Health Service is already increased by more than £100 million a year, as compared with the Estimate in the 1944 White Papers, Command Papers Nos. 6502 and 6550; and if he will now give an estimate of what the service will cost when it is in full operation.
§ Mr. BevanThe scheme for a National Health Service outlined in Command Paper 6502 differed substantially from that set up under the National Health Service Act, 1946, so that estimates of cost of the two schemes are not strictly comparable. The estimates in Command Paper 6502 were prepared on the basis of pre-war services at the prices and levels of wages and salaries existing in 1943. The Parliamentary Estimate is based on the proposed new services and current levels of wages and prices, which have substantially increased since 1943. The cost of the scheme in future years cannot be forecast, but on the basis of current costs, etc., a full year's working would involve an expenditure of about £230 millions gross.