§ Lord Lairdasked Her Majesty's Government:
In the light of the allocation of £10 million of additional National Health Service funding for Northern Ireland to community care, what additional resources are to be allocated to health care in Northern Ireland to ensure that it receives the same percentage allocation of resources to health care as in the rest of the United Kingdom. [HL2304]
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonNorthern Ireland received its share, £53 million, of the extra National Health Service Funding announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in March. Mr Howarth, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health in Northern Ireland, consulted a broad cross-section of health and personal social services interests in deciding how the additional funding would be allocated.
102WAAfter careful consideration, it was decided to allocate £11 million specifically to community care in 2000–01 and the balance to meet a range of hospital, community care and other pressures. However, because of the integrated nature of health and personal social services in Northern Ireland, it is inappropriate to make direct comparisons with the funding of the NHS in England.
§ Lord Lairdasked Her Majesty's Government:
Why some of the additional resources allocated to the National Health Service have been used to write off health trust overspending in England and Wales and not in Northern Ireland. [HL2305]
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonHaving consulted a broad cross-section of health and personal social services interests, Mr Howarth, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health in Northern Ireland, decided to direct the additional £53 million for health this year towards improving the provision of specific services, such as community care, hospital and cancer services, children's services etc. £38 million of this money is to be allocated to health and social services boards, and it will be a matter for boards to decide how the additional resources will actually be used, based on local priorities.