§ Mr. WelshTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what recent representations he has received concerning the change in calculation of deprivation payments from an 8 Jarman index to a 7 Jarman index; and if he will make a statement;
(2) if he will assess the effects of the change in calculation of deprivation from an 8 Jarman index to a 7 Jarman index on the incomes of general practitioners in Scotland; and what comparisons he has made with the incomes of general practitioners in the rest of the United Kingdom.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton[holding answer 8 December 1994]: Representations have been received recently from the Scottish General Medical Services committee and from a number of general medical practitioners.
600WThere was no change in overall expenditure on deprivation payments to GPs in Scotland as a consequence of the move from a Jarman 8 index to a Jarman 7 index in 1991. The change was designed to be cost neutral. The use of enumeration districts—around 300 people—as the basis of payment rather than post code sectors—around 5,000 people—allows for better targeting of payments.
I am satisfied that GPs in Scotland are not disadvantaged by the application of a Jarman 7 index in relation to their colleagues in England where the Jarman 8 index continues to be applied at electoral ward level of around 5,000 people.
In 1993–94 GPs in Scotland received some £3.8 million under the scheme which is currently based in 1981 census data. Negotiations are under way with the profession about updating the scheme using data from the 1991 census.