§ Mr. Higginsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) whether in the health regions which are underfunded, using the resource allocation working party formula, there are any district health authorities that show under that formula a percentage of less than 18 per cent. underfunding;
(2) if he will ensure that no revenue funds reallocated from the South-West Thames region go to any district in another region which is less underfunded according to the resource allocation working party formula than any district in the South-West Thames region.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeThe rigid application of a formula of this kind would not be practicable. The distribution of resources to district health authorities within each region is the responsibility of regional health 349W authorities. The RAWP formula is a reasonable guide to the fairer distribution of resources but other judgements also have to be made. The RAWP formula is also not a sound basis for asserting that any district is "underfunded" except in so far as that term is used to make a broad comparison of one authority with another.