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Private Finance Initiative
Dr. Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the revenue consequences of capital investments undertaken to date under the private finance initiative, listing all such schemes and the financing costs excluding any ongoing staffing costs; and if he will compare these costs with those pertaining under traditional public borrowing.[14031]
Mr. Milburn: The amount paid to the private sector under Private Finance Initiative contracts will vary depending on the level and quality of service.
The annual unitary payments for the two major acute sector PFI schemes that have reached financial close are expected to be:
The unitary payment is the cost of providing a fully serviced hospital facility. It includes elements of cost for the provision and maintenance of assets, the management of facilities, and financing. To be approved a PFI contract must offer better, or comparable, value for money to the publicly funded alternative.
Dr. Lynne Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what has been the capital investment by the NHS in health care projects (a) in total and (b) within the Birmingham local authority area in each of the last five years up to and including 1996-97, and in each five year period since 1972-73 at actual and constant 1996-97 prices, separately identifying expenditure under the private finance initiative. [14030]
Mr. Milburn:
The table shows the total amount of publicly financed capital expenditure within the Hospital and Community Health Services in England and within NHS trusts and hospitals in the Birmingham area.
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Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust: £18.6 million
Carlisle NHS Trust: £10.9 million
| £ million | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Gross HCHS capital expenditure (cash) | Gross HCHS capital expenditure (real terms(35)) | Capital expenditure within the Birmingham area (cash) | Capital expenditure within the Birmingham area (real terms) |
| 1973-74 | 265 | 1,754 | n/a | n/a |
| 1977-78 | 353 | 1,207 | n/a | n/a |
| 1982-83 | 778 | 1,475 | n/a | m/a |
| 1987-88 | 1,112 | 1,676 | n/a | n/a |
| 1992-93 | 1,815 | 2,002 | n/a | n/a |
| 1993-94 | 1,783 | 1,911 | 93 | 100 |
| 1994-95 | 2,049 | 2,163 | 58 | 61 |
| 1995-96 | 1,996 | 2,052 | 76 | 78 |
| 1996-97 | 1,683 | 1,683 | 65 | 65 |
(35) A consistent run of figures for HCHS Capital Expenditure for the period 1972-73 to 1977-78 is not available.
1. Figures for capital expenditure within the Birmingham area are taken from NHS Executive Regional Office records and are not directly comparable with the England figures. Figures prior to 1993-94 are not readily available.
2. Real terms figures have been calculated using the GDP deflator of 2 July 1997.
In addition the Private Finance Initiative has contributed an estimated further £55 million in each of the years 1995-96 and 1996-97. There are no completed PFI deals in the Birmingham local authority area.
National Blood Service
Dr. Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the redundancy and pensions costs of personnel taking redundancy or early retirement from the National Blood Service have been since 1 April 1995, (a) nationally and (b) in each zone. [14457]
Mr. Boateng: The information requested is given in the table.
| £000 | |
|---|---|
| London and South East zone | 1,372 |
| Midlands and South West zone | 987 |
| Northern zone | 1,067 |
| Total | 3,426 |
The total costs, including the full lifetime costs of early retirement according to National Health Service Accounting Treatment, will be £5.694 million.
Social Services (Winter Funding)
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will list for each Social Services Department his estimate of the additional funding which will be made available this winter; [14592]
- (2) if he will list by health authority the dates at which the social services departments within each authority were invited to make applications for additional funding to assist with managing pressures over this winter, indicating the deadlines they were given for completing their funding applications. [14597]
Mr. Boateng:
An additional £300 million has been made available for the health service in the United Kingdom this winter. Details of the allocations process in
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England were set out in Executive Letter EL(97)64, copies of which have been placed in the Library. This letter asked health authorities to draw up plans for using the additional resources to improve services, in consultation with trusts, general practitioners and social services departments, by 31 October. These plans were to be agreed by the regional offices of the National Health Service Executive by 7 November. Details of the allocations to health authorities will be made public once they are available.
Mr. Burstow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the Rowntree Commission's proposals for a National Care Council. [14589]
Mr. Boateng:
The Rowntree report is a significant and thoughtful contribution to the debate about long-term care arrangements, and its proposals will no doubt be looked at carefully in the context of the Government's intention to take forward their programme of work in this area.
Mr. Ottaway:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list for each health authority (a) the integrated allocation for hospital and community health services and (b) the funding per capita for (i) 1996-97 and (ii) 1997-98. [14600]
Mr. Milburn:
A table detailing the information requested has been placed in the Library.
Mr. Ottaway:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what interim weighting was used for community health services for the 1997-98 integrated allocation for hospital and community health services. [14599]
Mr. Milburn:
An interim needs weighting was introduced into the main weighted capitation formula in 1997-98. This formula is used to inform general allocations to health authorities.
The needs weighting took the form of a number of indices which reflect the specific pattern of need for community health services, based on indicators of health and socioeconomic status from the Census and other sources.
Full details are given in the booklet "HCHS Revenue Resource Allocation to Health Authorities: Weighted Capitation Formulas", copies of which are available in the Library.
Mr. Collins:
To ask the Secretary of state for Health for what reasons the Department of Health was not represented at the conference held in London in 1995 by Dr. Burton on the subject of adhesive arachnoiditis. [14602]
Ms Jowell:
The Chief Medical Officer was unable to attend this conference because of previous commitments. His deputy was unable to attend the conference at short notice.
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Mr. Hinchliffe:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) NHS trusts in the Northern and Yorkshire region, (b) community trusts nationally and (c) trusts nationally have reached agreement with their staff over the local element of the national NHS pay awards for 1996-97; and what percentage of (i) trusts and (ii) NHS staff are covered by these agreements in each case. [14236]
Mr. Milburn:
We are not aware of any ongoing negotiations on the local element of the National Health Service Pay award for 1996-97.
Mr. Tipping:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage level of capitation funding the Nottingham health authority has received for each of the last five years; and what is the planned figure for 1997-98. [14419]
Mr. Milburn:
The general allocations for Nottingham Health Authority for 1993-94 to 1998-99 and the percentage of the health authority's weighted capitation target they represent are shown in the attached table.
| Year | General allocation | Weighted capitation target |
|---|---|---|
| (£ million) | (per cent.) | |
| 1998-99 | 286.6 | 96.5 |
| 1997-98 | 272.2 | 97.6 |
| 1996-97 | 262.2 | 97.4 |
| 1995-96 | 253.4 | 96.7 |
| 1994-95 | 232.2 | 99.9 |
| 1993-94 | 224.6 | 101.4 |
The figures are not directly comparable year-on-year because of the following changes to the way allocations have been made:
1993-94, 1994-95 and 1995-96--these figures were collected centrally and adjusted to allow for the different ways in which the regional health authorities made allocations to district health authorities.
Since 1996-97 General Allocations have been made direct to health authorities.
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