§ Mr. Mackintoshasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what will be the cost in the current financial year of (a) payments to junior hospital doctors to meet the award for overtime payments, (b) payments to general practitioners for 317W family planning services and (c) payments to hospital doctors for sterilisation operations; and what proportion of the total money available for the development of the NHS in 1976–77 will be absorbed by these three categories of payments.
§ Mr. Harry EwingThe net additional cost in 1976–77 of implementing the new junior hospital's doctors' contract in Scotland is estimated at £1.8 million.
The cost of payments to general practitioners for family planning services in 1976–77 is estimated at £0.6 million.
The estimated cost of payments for sterilisation operations is not readily available. It has been estimated, however, that the cost of payments to hospital doctors for family planning services generally in 1976–77 will be £0.5 million.
Of this expenditure, some £2 million will be a charge against the revenue development moneys available to the NHS in Scotland. This represents 19 per cent. of the total.