§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what cash increase in NI will be applicable to(a) NHS house officers, (b) NHS nurse consultants, (c) NHS senior house officers, (d) NHS specialist registrars and (e) NHS consultants. [59409]
1291W
§ Dawn Primarolo[holding answer 24 May 2002]: The Budget 2002 changes in national insurance contributions (NICs) will help to fund improvements to public services and a real terms increase in spending on health over the next five years of 40 per cent.
Estimates for the increase in 2003–04 in employee NICs by grade for England are shown in the table. I regret that reliable estimates for the United Kingdom would be available only at disproportionate cost.
£ million House officers 1 Nurse consultants Less than 1 Senior house officers 5 Registrar group1 5 Consultants 17 1 Higher specialist training grades were restructured in the mid-1990s, with registrar and senior registrar grades being replaced by a combined specialist registrar grades. The published work force data do not allow us to distinguish between specialist registrars and the few remaining staff on the older grades. The figures have therefore been grouped together and are referred to as the registrar group.