§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what consideration he has given to the information sent to him by the right hon. Member for Manchester, Wythenshawe, concerning the resource and manpower implications for health authorities in England and Wales of the Education Act 1981; what action he has taken or will be taking; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. WhitneyThe information provided by the right hon. Member is a paper about the implications of the Education Act 1981, sent to officials in June 1985 by the National Association of Health Authorities in England and Wales (NAHA) following a meeting in October 1984. Detailed comments were sent to the authors in September 1985 with the offer of a further meeting.
We are aware that in places the introduction of the new procedures has presented problems to health authorities and identified a need for services that are not always immediately available. We have made clear that no additional resources can be made available to health authorities specifically related to the implementation of the Act, although as the right hon. Member is aware my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science has allocated some additional resources to assist with specific aspects of special education. Solutions to the problems must be found locally by the authorities working together to set up practical procedures and find the most effective way of using resources. The NAHA paper was intended to help this process.
§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what finance he intends to offer to health
220W
Social security appeals in Great Britain 1979 to 1984 on decisions for retirement pension, unemployment benefit and supplementary benefit 1. Retirement pension Year Number of appeals/references lodged* Number of appeal/references heard† Number where the claimant was successful Proportion of appeals heard where the claimant was successful per cent. 1979 n/a 537 106 19.7 1980 n/a 672 128 19.0 1981 n/a 769 165 21.5 1982 n/a 896 192 21.4 1983 n/a 900 219 24.3 authorities for the financial year 1986–87 to enable them to honour the doctors' and nurses' pay awards and to meet rates of inflation.
§ Mr. HayhoeWe are increasing current spending on the hospital and community health service by £650 million (6.7 per cent.) in 1986–87 compared with a forecast increase in general inflation of 4.5 per cent. Authorities will also have available their growing cost improvement programme. From within these resources authorities will be expected to meet pay and price increases, including the full year effects of the 1985 review body awards, and develop services.