§ Mr. JenkinTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will assess the effects of the change made in the capitation formula for the allocation of NHS money to North Essex health authority; [16051]
(2) what would be the 1998–99 allocation of NHS money to North Essex health authority using the formula employed for the current year; what would it be if the new formula was fully funded; and what is the actual allocation he has announced for 1998–99. [16052]
§ Mr. MilburnThe weighted capitation formula is used to set targets which then inform allocations. The formula does not determine allocations. These reflect our decisions on the speed at which health authorities are brought nearer to target through the distribution of growth. If a different formula had been used we might have distributed growth differently. It is therefore not meaningful to recalculate 1998–99 allocations hypothetically.
681WIf the 1997–98 formula had been applied to North Essex health authority's target this would have been 2.86 per cent. greater.
North Essex health authority's 1998–99 general allocation for HCHS is £370,351,000, some 97.73 per cent. of its weighted capitation target of £378,944,000. This represents a 5.01 per cent. cash increase.