§ Mr. WilshireTo ask the Secretary of State for Health by how much the funding of NHS services in west Surrey has been reduced since 1997 to bring it into line with the requirements of the Resource Allocation Working Party. [67456]
§ Ms Blears[holding answer 5 July 2002]: Actual funding for the national health service in west Surrey has risen from £369.8 million in 1997–98 to £485.9 million in 2002–03. This represents an increase of 31.4 per cent.
935WReal terms percentage allocation increases in west Surrey and nationally are shown in the table.
Percentage Year Real terms increase Average increase in England 1997–98 2.54 2.04 1998–99 1.35 1.90 1999–2000 2.91 4.00 2000–01 3.67 4.18 2001–02 5.91 5.85 2002–03 6.89 7.20 During this period, changes in the resource allocation formula have meant that west Surrey has moved from being 1.71 per cent. above its target in 1997–98 to 3.63 per cent. above target in 2002–03.