§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer of 26 April,Official Report, column 152, on the NHS Supplies Authority, what 369W percentage savings in Supplies Authority purchasing costs was assessed by its consultants as achievable as at April 1994 for the divisions for whom benchmarking comparisons were carried out; whether such savings have been achieved across all divisions over each of the last six months; and if she will make a statement.
§ Mr. SackvilleThe information is not available in the form requested. For 1993–94 the National Health Service Supplies Authority was targeted to achieve purchasing cost savings of £57 million, or four per cent. of the value of all contracts negotiated in the year. The actual saving achieved was £71.65 million, broken down as follows:
Division/Unit Savings (£ million) National Purchasing Unit 36.55 Central 6.31 North East 6.50 North Thames Anglia 4.27 North West 6.45 South and West 5.96 South East 5.60