§ Mr. LansleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to know how many staff were employed by strategic health authorities in September 2003. [149563]
§ Mr. HuttonSubject to standard data integrity checks, current plans are to publish these figures—as part of the September 2003 national health service workforce census results on the Department's website—in February 2004.
§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what the latest financial position of each strategic health authority is, broken down by(a) forecast outturn, (b) financial risk, (c) brokerage required to achieve financial balance and (d) loans taken from the NHS Bank. [150462]
§ Mr. HuttonAudited information on the strategic health authorities (SHAs) own financial position will be published in their individual annual accounts. This data will be available centrally in the autumn. We have no plans to publish un-audited information.
We have no plans to publish information on financial risk. It can be subjective, is affected by rapidly changing conditions and management action and as a result could be misleading.
We have no plans to provide brokerage to SHAs for the purpose of achieving financial balance.
In 2003–04, the NHS Bank has provided £152 million special assistance to the following SHAs:
- Surrey and Sussex—£40 million
- Avon. Gloucestershire and Wiltshire—£70 million
- Thames Valley—£25 million
- Kent and Medway—£17 million