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Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the equity of resourceallocation studies by the Eastern Health and Social Services Board and what conclusions he has drawn, in relation to the provisionof services for those residing in the Newtownards and North Down Region; and if he will make a statement. [167725]Angela Smith: In line with departmental policy, the Eastern Board is responsible for the equitable distribution among its localpopulations of the resources provided to it by the Department. In doing so, the Board has developed a locality equity strategy whichhas, and will continue to, skew additional resources towards those local populations assessed as being underfunded in relation totheir target share of resources determined by an evidence based formula. Resources skewed towards the North Down and Ards localityin 2004-05 have resulted in a reduction of the relative under investment position by £0.329 million. In addition, a further£0.6 million has been provided to support Family and Child Care services in North Down and Ards. The locality equityassessment will be revised next year as the latest research into needs-based allocations becomes available. |