§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 30 April,Official Report, column 502, what was the grade of the ex-civil servant who carried out the independent inquiry into the circumstances leading to the failure to enact the secondary legislation in respect of the payment of management allowances to general practitioner fundholders; which branch of his Department that person worked in when last a civil servant; what was the cost of the inquiry; and if the work carried out was tendered for in open competition. [28118]
§ Mr. MaloneI refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave him on 25 April at columns282–83. Mr. Strachan Heppell, a deputy secretary, was previously the head of the health and social services group in the Department before his retirement from full-time work in 1995. Mr. Heppell was asked to undertake the inquiry because of his prior knowledge of departmental and wider civil service standards and procedures and at no additional cost to the Department.
§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 30 April,Official Report, column 502, when the implementation team was set up; what grades of civil servant and how many in each grade have been assigned to it; and how long he expects the team will require to complete the action plan. [28119]
§ Mr. MaloneA small project team of senior managers has been set up, led by Department's principal establishments and finance officer, to take forward implementation of the inquiry's recommendations. Changes already in hand will address some of the problems identified. Others will require work over several months.
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