§ Mr. FrancoisTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total staffing budget of the NHS was in financial year 2000–01(a) as an actual figure and (b) as a percentage of the total NHS Budget; and what the equivalent estimates are for (a) and (b) in the NHS Budget for 2001–02. [26595]
§ Mr. HuttonFinalised figures for 2000–01 are not yet available. Provisional figures show that the hospital and community health service paybill in 2000–01 is £20.4 billion. This is 46 per cent. of the estimated net national health service expenditure in 2000–01 (£44.6 billion).
Our estimate of the HCHS paybill in 2001–02 is £22.7 billion. This is 46 per cent. of the planned expenditure for the NHS in 2001–02 (£48.8 billion).