HC Deb 19 September 2002 vol 390 cc364-5W
Virginia Bottomley

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the difference in wage costs between Surrey and Durham. [71913]

Mr. Hutton

The weighted capitation formula used to calculate health authority target shares of National Health Service revenue allocations includes a staff market forces factor (MFF) that reflects geographical variations in staff costs. The staff MFF is based on the new earnings survey data set produced by the Office for National Statistics.

In the 2002–03 allocations formula the weighting factor used for Surrey was 1.15 and the weighting factor for Co. Durham was 1.00.