§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement about the payment of management allowances to general practitioner fundholders. [25321]
§ Mr. MalonePayments from management allowances are made to fundholding practices to reimburse the additional costs incurred in directly managing national health service resources on behalf of their patients. Section 15 of the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 enables fundholders to receive a sum determined in such manner and by reference to such factors as the Secretary of State may direct. However, our legal advice is that payments by fundholders for the sole purpose of management expenses need to be specified within regulations. This has now been provided for under the National Health Service (Fund-holding Practices) Amendment Regulations 1995. The regulations are in line with guidance previously issued by the NHS executive on this matter, copies of which are routinely placed in the Library. Extra-statutory management allowance payments of this kind, made between 1990–91 and 1994–95, estimated at around £165 million, have now been authorised.