§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what his estimate is of the annual real terms increase in NHS funding for each of the years(a) 1971–72, (b) 1972–73, (c) 1973–74, (d) 1974–75, (e) 1975–76, (f) 1976–77, (g) 1998–99, (h) 1999–2000, (i) 2000–01, (j) 2001–02, (k) 2002–03 and (1) 2003–04. [10747]
§ Mr. Hutton[holding answer 31 October 2001]: I apologise to my hon. Friend for the delay in responding to this question. I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.
The information requested is set out in the tables.
NHS expenditure, 1972–72 to 1977–78 Outturn Net NHS expenditure (£ billion) Real terms increase (Percentage) 1971–72 2.0 — 1972–73 2.3 5.5 1973–74 2.5 2.6 1974–75 3.4 11.1 1975–76 4.5 5.6 1976–77 5.1 0.4
NHS expenditure 1997–98 to 2003–04 Net NHS expenditure (£ billion) Real terms increase (Percentage) 1997–98 135.0 — 1998–99 136.9 2.7 1999–2000 140.2 6.4 2000–01 244.6 8.9 2001–02 348.8 6.9 2002–03 353.5 6.8 2003–04 357.0 3.9 1 Outturn 2 Estimated outturn 3 Plan