§ Mr. BettsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what additional financial resources have been made available to local authorities in(a) 2003–04 and (b) 2004–05 to enable them to perform their role of scrutinising health trusts. [166316]
§ Ms Rosie WintertonThe Government have given powers to local authorities to review and scrutinise health services as part of their wider responsibilities to promote the economic, environmental and social well-being of local people. The Department believes it is right that local authorities prioritise their resources and indeed activities to tit locally identified needs. Health scrutiny is no different.
Central Government funding to support local authorities in 2003–04 was approximately £70 billion. For 2004–05, this amount will increase by six per cent. Funding to support overview and scrutiny committees should be seen in this, wider context.
The Department is conscious of the need to enable local authorities to undertake their new powers as effectively as possible. It is for this reason that a one-off payment of £2.25 billion has been made to the Centre for 957W Public Scrutiny to develop and sup port health scrutiny, and to ensure that lessons from good practice are learned and disseminated.