HC Deb 20 October 1975 vol 898 cc39-40W
Mr. Beith

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the total cost to the health service of expenditure on employees' car travel in the latest period since reorganisation for which figures are available; and what was the equivalent figure for a comparable period before reorgansiation, corrected to remove the effect of increases in the mileage rate between the two periods.

Mr. Meacher

The information asked for is not available centrally. The returns received do not show mileage allowances separately from other travelling costs and subsistence allowances. In any event there are as yet no complete returns from all regions in respect of any period after National Health Service reorgansiation. Furthermore, a true comparison with the pre-reorganisation situation would be impossible because there is no centrally collected data for those staff who were transferred to the National Health

INJURY BENEFIT
Country or Region Number of recipients Weekly expenditure (£1,000) Expenditure per head of working population (£)
Great Britain 49,760 675.1 0.03
England 38,360 519.5 0.027
North 6,160 75.2 0.059
Yorkshire and Humberside 7,200 95.5 0.048
East Midlands 3,720 52.2 0.038
East Anglia 880 13.2 0.024
South East 7,840 105.2 0.014
South West 2,320 31.1 0.024
West Midlands 4,040 58.5 0.026
North West 6,200 88.6 0.032
Wales 5,240 70.6 0.074
Scotland 6,160 85.0 0.051

Of the 49,760 persons receiving industrial injury benefit 27,080 also received dependants' allowance. Separate figures for national and regional areas are not available. The expenditure for dependants' allowance is included in the weekly expenditure shown in the third column and is approximately 30 per cent. of that expenditure.

Service from local authorities on 1st April 1974.