HC Deb 22 December 1982 vol 34 c579W
Mr. Mike Thomas

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list in the Official Report the principal economies made in order to achieve the reduction in DHSS expenditure on the Committee on Safety of Medicines from £0.075 million in 1978–79 to £0x00B7;051 million in 1979–80.

Mr. Geoffrey Finsberg

No economies were made in total DHSS expenditure on the CSM for these years. I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Birkenhead (Mr. Field) on 18 October—[Vol. 29, c. 55]—which shows an increase in real terms in CSM expenditure over that period. The figures given in the report on Non-departmental public bodies and in "Non-departmental Public Bodies: Facts and Figures 1980" are not comparable as they were calculated on a different basis.