HC Deb 26 February 2004 vol 418 cc568-9W
Mr. Burstow

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much of the centrally funded initiatives and services and special allocations budget for 2003–04(a) has not been spent and (b) has been transferred into another budget. [151686]

Mr. Hutton

The Centrally Funded Initiatives and Services and Special Allocations (CFISSA) programme is fully committed in 2003–04. Approximately £37 million remains to be formally allocated to primary care trusts. In addition, further scheduled payments still need to be made in the period to 31 March 2004 in fulfilment of existing contracts and service level agreements.

The table shows the transfers to and from the CFISSA programme in 2003–04.

Hospital reprovision will often lead to fewer hospital buildings (for example, because of consolidation on a single site), but the resulting modernised, fit-for-purpose new facilities will offer better patient care and better quality services.

Information on the closure of doctors' surgeries is not held centrally. Primary care trusts (and their health authority predecessors) will be aware of individual closures. Modernisation of primary care facilities will often lead to fewer, larger premises (for example, one-stop centres providing a wider range of services to patients).