§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what funds he intends to make available in 1990–91 to the regional health authorities to cover the administrative and computer technology costs of introducing indicative prescribing budgets.
§ Mr. MellorWe have made quite clear that we will meet the necessary additional costs of implementing the indicative prescribing budget scheme.
It is premature to state what funding will be made available to regional health authorities since we are engaged in discussions with various interested parties about how the scheme should be implemented.