§ Mr. David PorterTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement on the implications for his Department's(a) planning and (b) spending on health and social services of recent projections published by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys that East Anglia will have in the next 13 years the greatest proportionate population increase of both people moving in and of new births of any English region.
§ Mr. NewtonThe resource allocation working party formula, which is used to calculate each region's target share of available resources, takes account of changes in the size of regional populations (and of the use made of health services by people of different ages and sexes). Annual allocations aim to bring regions towards their targets over time. East Anglia's growth in population is reflected in its 6.6 per cent. cash increase for 1988–89 compared with a national average of 5.7 per cent.