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HEALTH

Health Authority Wages

Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 28 January 1999, Official Report, columns 324-26, on average wages, if he will list the actual average wage paid by each of the London health authorities in each year since 1995. [68962]

Mr. Denham: The precise information requested is not collected centrally. Information is collected about the annual total salaries and wages paid to National Health Service staff each year, and the number of directly employed staff at a single point in time, for example, 30 September. Workforce figures for individual health authority areas are not available centrally for 1995. The table uses these two pieces of information to produce estimates of average wages. These estimates should be interpreted with caution for the following reasons.

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The number of staff employed by individual organisations will change over the course of a year. These changes are not reflected in the point in time estimate for workforce numbers, but are reflected in the total annual salaries and wages.

The coverage of the workforce numbers and salaries and wages differ slightly. For example, the costs of non-executive board members and non-nursing staff on short-term, flexible contracts who work on an "as and when" basis are included in the salaries and wages figures, but are excluded from the workforce figures.

The figures collected by the Department for individual NHS trusts and health authorities were collected to provide national estimates and were validated accordingly. For example, small inaccuracies in the figures for individual organisations may not have been identified.

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NHS trusts and health authorities Directly employed staff, salaries and wages and estimated average wages (16) by London health authority areas

Health authority area	Directly employed staff (wte)	Salaries and wages (£000)	Estimated average wage (per annum)
1996-97
Barking and Havering	4,608	96,266	20,889
Barnet	3,789	79,334	20,936
Bexley and Greenwich	5,311	110,701	20,842
Brent and Harrow	5,948	117,791	19,804
Bromley	5,118	104,245	20,368
Camden and Islington	17,540	369,425	21,062
Croydon	3,395	66,743	19,659
Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow	5,364	108,299	20,192
East London and The City	12,436	268,131	21,561
Enfield and Haringey	5,272	112,209	21,285
Hillingdon	4,680	97,211	20,770
Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster	15,147	328,182	21,666
Kingston and Richmond	1,512	32,597	21,557
Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham	15,434	330,654	21,423
Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth	12,869	271,615	21,106
Redbridge and Waltham Forest	5,616	113,241	20,166
1997-98
Barking and Havering	4,827	97,763	20,254
Barnet	3,459	76,098	21,998
Bexley and Greenwich	5,639	121,194	21,493
Brent and Harrow	5,487	118,766	21,645
Bromley	4,786	99,729	20,836
Camden and Islington	17,174	386,822	22,524
Croydon	3,411	69,420	20,350
Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow	5,341	113,881	21,322
East London and The City	12,056	274,455	22,766
Enfield and Haringey	5,524	119,628	21,655
Hillingdon	4,724	100,579	21,293
Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster	15,156	338,777	22,352
Kingston and Richmond	1,617	34,215	21,155
Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham	15,343	349,159	22,757
Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth	13,459	282,342	20,978
Redbridge and Waltham Forest	5,378	114,796	21,344

(16) Estimates are based on total annual salaries and wages divided by directly employed staff (whole-time equivalents) as at 30 September each year and so need to be interpreted with caution.

wte = whole time equivalent

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Mental Health Services

Sir Alastair Goodlad: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what joint finance moneys and project funding are being provided to district health authorities and local authority services by his Department in the current year to improve the range and quality of day care and other facilities for the mentally ill. [72584]

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Mr. Hutton: Over £84.5 million in joint finance moneys and project funding are being provided to health authorities and local authority services by the Department in the current year to improve the range and quality of day care and other facilities for mentally ill people.

Sir Alastair Goodlad: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what expenditure has been authorised in (a) the current and (b) the next financial year in each health

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region for improved mental health training for general practitioners and others responsible for providing primary care; and if he will make a statement. [72586]

Mr. Hutton: This information requested is not available centrally. In 1999-2000, £146 million extra funding will be invested in mental health services of which £12 million will provide additional support for education and training of doctors and nurses. This will include those working in primary health care.

Personal Social Services

Mr. Levitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will publish the Performance Assessment Framework for Personal Social Services promised in the White Paper, Modernising Health and Social Services. [72898]

Mr. Hutton: The Department of Health has today published the consultation document A New Approach to Social Services Performance setting out the details of our proposals for a new Performance Assessment Framework for social services and an associated set of 46 performance indicators. Copies will be placed in the Library.

The Framework and its indicators will help Government, Councils and local people to assess how well local social services are performing. Councils and Government will be able to use the framework and the indicators to identify areas of possible good practice and areas where improvement is required.

We are redefining and strengthening our approach to social services performance to improve the Department of Health's capacity to assess performance and to put in place the necessary structures to support Best Value in social services. The Performance Assessment Framework is one part of this. We will build upon the success of the Social Services Inspectorate (SSI) Inspection programme and the SSI/Audit Commission Joint Reviews and enhance the performance role of the Regional Offices of the SSI.

A New Approach to Social Services Performance describes these new arrangements and how they will help to ensure Best Value is delivered in social services.

DEFENCE

Logistics Targets

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what targets he intends to set in the logistics area for the rationalisation of functions and processes on a defence-wide basis. [72049]

Mr. George Robertson: The Chief of Defence Logistics will, from 1 April 1999, take financial and management responsibility for the three Service logistics organisations. He will contribute to the SDR targets for reductions in the value of stockholdings and the rationalisation of purchasing procedures. How he will achieve rationalisation will not be the subject of separate

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targets. During the transition to a unified logistics organisation by April 2000, CDL will develop defence-wide logistics targets for delivering outputs.

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Strategic Defence Review, what criteria are to be set for (a) the Chief of Defence Logistics and (b) the Defence Storage and Distribution Agency for realising the benefits of SMART procurement in the logistics area. [72048]

Mr. George Robertson: Under the Smart Procurement Initiative, the Chief of Defence Logistics (CDL) will be creating Integrated Project Teams exactly as the Defence Procurement Agency will be doing. This will deliver support to in-service equipment and contribute to the overall savings for Smart Procurement Initiative. Each project team will be set performance targets. The criteria for these targets are still being developed. There are no specific procurement related targets for the Defence Storage and Distribution Agency.

Defence Research Committee

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what dates the Defence Research Committee has met since 1 January 1998; and if he will place in the Library a list of items discussed at each of these meetings. [71959]

Mr. Spellar: Since 1 January 1998 the Defence Research Committee has met twice, on 31 March 1998 and on 16 November 1998. I will place a list of items discussed on each occasion in the Library of the House.

Joint Force 2000 Initiative

Mr. Rapson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what further progress has been made on the development of the Joint Force 2000 initiative; and if he will make a statement. [72992]

Mr. George Robertson: On 19 October 1998, Official Report, column 979, I announced that we would be forming the joint Royal Navy/Royal Air Force Harrier force to be known as Joint Force 2000. Since last October, work has continued on the organisational changes necessary to take forward the Joint Force 2000 initiative. I can confirm that the new Headquarters will form in RAF Strike Command on 1 April next year under the command of a Rear Admiral. This Headquarters will be located at RAF High Wycombe. He will have two subordinate force commanders, both of whom will be RAF Air Commodores, one of whom will command the combined Harrier force, Joint Force 2000, and the other the RAF's existing forces of Nimrod Maritime Patrol aircraft and Search and Rescue helicopters. As importantly, we have also decided, subject to a period of consultation with Trades Unions and other interested parties which begins today, that the RN's Sea Harrier force, currently based at RNAS Yeovilton, will join the RAF's Harrier force at RAF Cottesmore and RAF Wittering in 2003.

We see the collocation of the existing Harrier fleets as realising significant operational benefits and as a practical and symbolic step toward the creation of a truly joint

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force. For the longer term, and when the Joint Force is re-equipped with the Future Carrier Borne Aircraft, we have identified RAF Cottesmore as its most suitable home. We are making real progress on the development and creation of Joint Force 2000 and we are doing it significantly earlier than originally anticipated. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the two Services concerned for their far-sighted and constructive attitude which has made this possible.

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