§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what directives he has issued to district health authorities in Wales during the past 12 months on the need to reduce administrative and clerical spending; and what assessment he has made of the performance of each health authority in Wales in this regard.
§ Mr. GristNo such directives have been issued in the last 12 months. Management costs of health authorities 733W are the subject of monitoring and assessment by the Welsh Office as part of the process of annual review of performance. Authorities are reminded of the need to subject such costs to the most rigorous scrutiny and to keep them to the minimum.
§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will state how much expenditure has been increased by his Department in each of the past five years on consultants, investigations and reports relating to district health authorities in Wales; and if he will list those district health authorities which are currently being helped by financial consultants in respect of their strategic options and business plans for the period from 1 April 1991, and for which his Department is meeting either part, or the whole, of the consultancy costs, noting in each instance the Department-borne part of the costs.
§ Mr. GristThe expenditure incurred directly by the Department in each of the past five years on consultants, investigations and reports relating to district health authorities in Wales was as follows:
£ 1985–86 Nil 1986–87 C. Squares Ltd.—Data envelopment analysis 1,150 Taylor Nelson Group—Welsh inter-censal study 17,250 1987–88 Deloitte, Haskins and Sells—Gwynedd DHA—Financial review and development of action plan 173,650 University of Birmingham—Inter authority comparisons 5,000 1988–89 Deloitte, Haskins and Sells—Oncology study 40,250 Cancer treatment study 40,030 Touche Ross—Report on paymaster function 13,141 Deloitte, Haskins and Sells—Gwynedd DHA—Assistance in implementing action plan 6,326 1989–90 Deloitte, Haskins and Sells—Cancer service study 67,930 Cancer treatment services 7,370 Price Waterhouse—Project 2000 79,922 The Department's contributions towards the cost of preparing pathfinder district procurement and unit business plans for 1990–91 are as follows:
£ Clwyd 20,000 East Dyfed 9,000 Gwent 27,500 Gwynedd 26,500 Mid Glamorgan 12,000 Pembrokeshire 20,000 Powys 44,000 South Glamorgan 35,000 West Glamorgan 2,034 The pathfinder plans will inform district health authorities for 1991–92.
With the exception of the funding provided to Gwynedd health authority, which represented 50 per cent. of the costs of a management consultancy to assist with the determination of strategic options and the production of a pathfinder business plan, it is not possible to say how much of the money made available to individual district health authorities will be used to engage the services of 734W management consultants. This is a matter for individual district health authorities to decide in the light of their own local management arrangements.