§ Mr. Chapmanasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he has made any estimate of the percentage real increase in revenue expenditure of the individual Thames regional health authorities based on their present boundaries and responsibilities between 1978–79 to 1984–85.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeNo. The 1982 boundary changes and changes in management responsibility which I listed in my reply to my hon. Friend on 14 June at column.599 were substantial and complex. I am afraid that any estimate which attempted to project those changes back over previous years would be disproportionately costly and serve no practical purpose. The following table does, however, show the increases in expenditure in each of the Thames regions either side of the 1982 changes, and traces their distance from RAWP targets over the period. I hope that this goes some way towards meeting my hon. Friend's request.
367WNotes:
1. Expenditure is the actual revenue expenditure from health authorities' summarised accounts for 1978–79, 1981–82 and 1982–83: provisional outturn for 1984–85: and initial cash limits for 1985–86.
2. Percentage increase represents the real increase in expenditure after taking account of general inflation as measured by the Gross Domestic Product deflator.
3. The distance from 'target' shows the Region's distance from its 'target' fair share of the available resources calculated according to the formula recommended by the Resource Allocation Working Party. Changes in distance from 'target' between 1981–82 and 1982–83 are affected by the 1982 boundary and management changes.