§ Mr. LawrenceTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of the expenditure of each district health authority is devoted to administration; and what are the comparable figures for each year since 1978–79.
§ Mr. DorrellTables of percentage figures showing expenditure on headquarters administration as a proportion of total expenditure, as reported in the annual accounts of each regional and district health authority in England, for the years requested since the establishment of district health authorities on 1 April 1982, have been placed in the Library. Figures for each special health authority for the London postgraduate teaching hospitals, which cannot be attributed to particular regions, are also included for completeness. Equivalent information for 1990–91 will be available in the autumn.
Regions are managed in an integrated way. It would be misleading to interpret the figures for particular districts in isolation, or to regard regional health authorities' data as distinct from that for the districts they manage. The division of functions between the RHA and districts and between districts varies from region to region and consequently the region totals provide a more valid picture.
902WBecause of the changes in the structure of the NHS on 1 April 1982, establishment of district health authorities, and on 1 April 1985—separation of family practitioner committees from districts—information on which to base fully comparable data or an analysis to districts for 1978–79 is not held centrally. However, in 1978–79 expenditure on headquarters administration by the health authorities then broadly equivalent to those in the table represented 5.07 per cent. of their total current and capital expenditure.