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1 Sept 2004 : Column 917W—continued
NHS Overspend (South-east)
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the NHS over-spend in the South East was in 2003–04. [185507]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Audited accounts information for 2003–04 will not be available centrally until autumn 2004.
NHS Professionals
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what the budget of National Health Service Professionals was in financial year 2003–04; and what its main sources of revenue were; [184883]
(2) what audit arrangements are in place in respect of National Health Service Professionals; [184884]
(3) why it is his policy to exclude National Health Service Professionals from the process of audit by the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency that is applied to commercial recruitment agencies; [184885]
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(4) what assessment he has made of the (a) performance, (b) effectiveness and (c) value for money delivered by National Health Service Professionals. [184886]
Mr. Hutton: NHS Professionals was operating through various national health service bodies until 1 January 2004, when it was established as a special health authority (SHA) in shadow form. From 1 April 2004 it became a fully established SHA. The Department was NHS Professionals' main source of funding in 2003–04. Anticipated investment was £22 million in the financial year 2003–04. NHS Professionals will be audited by the National Audit Office for 2003–04 and accounts for the period it was in shadow form in 2003–04 will be published shortly.
The NHS Purchasing and Supplies Agency will audit NHS Professionals' compliance with the standards laid down in the agency framework agreements in exactly the same way that it audits compliance by commercial agencies.
The Department has set up formal performance review arrangements with NHS Professionals. The benefits from the establishment of NHS Professionals will be achieved by reduced costs and higher standards in the recruitment and development of temporary staff. NHS trusts have already seen a reduction in temporary staffing costs and improvement in bank fill rates due to NHS Professionals. Local agency agreements have also saved an estimated £50 million over the past year.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evidence of fraud he has collated in the running of NHS Professionals; and if he will make a statement. [186142]
Mr. Hutton: No evidence of fraud has been collated in the running of NHS Professionals but any cases relating to individuals registered with NHS Professionals are dealt with by the national health service counter fraud and security management service (CFSMS).
NHS Professionals is in the process of drawing up a counter fraud charter with the CFSMS.
NHS Repairs
Andy King: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Government achieved their target of reducing disrepair on the NHS estate by 25 per cent. between April 1999 and March 2004; what the total repair backlog on the NHS estate was in (a) March 2003 and (b) March 2004; and if this information is not currently available, when will he make it available. [182459]
Ms Rosie Winterton: NHS estates collects data on backlog maintenance from national health service trusts through its estates return information collection. The latest data relate to 2002–03 and this remains the subject of a statistical validation exercise, which will be completed shortly. Once the validation exercise is complete I will write to my hon. Friend.
NHS Staff
Mr. Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average salary for NHS (a) chief executives and (b) chairmen was in each year since 1997. [182786]
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Mr. Hutton: Information about the pay of national health service chief executives is not held centrally by the Department.
Information about the remuneration of NHS chairs has been held by the NHS appointments commission since its inception in April 2001.
The remuneration for NHS chairs since 2001–02 is shown in the table.
| Band 1 | Band 2 | Band 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001–02 | 20,420 | 18,154 | 16,017 |
| 2002–03 | 20,930 | 18,608 | 16,407 |
| 2003–04 | 21,453 | 19,073 | 16,827 |
| 2004–05 | 21,882 | 19,454 | 17,164 |
Remuneration for NHS chairs was handled by the Department until April 2001 when the NHS appointments commission was established. Remuneration for NHS chairs from 1997–98 to 2000–01 is shown in the table.
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| Band 1 | Band 2 | Band 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 19,285 | 17,145 | 15,125 |
| 1998–99 | 19,285 | 17,145 | 15,125 |
| 1999–2000 | 19,825 | 17,625 | 15,550 |
| 2000–01 | 19,825 | 17,625 | 15,550 |
For 2001–02, the remuneration of chairs of primary care trusts (PCTs) was:
Level 4: £12,967
Level 3: £10,373
Given the new responsibilities and anticipated time commitments of PCT chairs, their remuneration was increased to the same level, and on the same banding basis as NHS trusts, from 1 April 2002.
Mr. Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money was spent by the NHS on agency staff in Leicester South in each year since 1997. [186259]
Dr. Ladyman: The information requested is shown in the following table.
| 1997–98 | 1998–99 | 1999–2000 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2002–03 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leicestershire Royal Infirmary NHS Trust | 585,888 | 897,878 | 1,600,196 | — | — | — |
| Leicester General Hospital NHS Trust | 710,045 | 917,586 | 1,223,520 | — | — | — |
| Glenfield Hospital NHS Trust | 139,214 | 343,663 | 448,662 | — | — | — |
| University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust | — | — | — | 4,673,825 | 6,734,372 | 8,218,180 |
| Eastern Leicester PCT | — | — | — | n/a | 106,895 | 151,238 |
| South Leicestershire PCT | — | — | — | n/a | n/a | 155,162 |
Sources:
1. Annual financial returns of NHS trusts, 1997–98 to 2002–03.
2. Annual financial returns of primary care trusts, 2001–02 to 2002–03.
Mr. Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff vacancies there were in the NHS in Leicestershire in each year since 1997. [186267]
Dr. Ladyman: The information requested is shown in the table.
| 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leicestershire Health Authority (1999–2001) and Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland SHA (2002–2004) | 3 month vacancy rate (per centage) | 3 month vacancy number | 3 month vacancy rate (percentage) | 3 month vacancy number | 3 month vacancy rate (percentage) | 3 month vacancy number |
| GP | 44 | 89 | ||||
| Consultant and other Doctors (excluding Doctors in training) | 3.10 | 13 | (81)— | (81)— | 0 | |
| All nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff (excluding HA staff) | 0.6 | 37 | 2.2 | 131 | 0.8 | 47 |
| All scientific, therapeutic and technical staff (excluding HA staff) | 0.6 | 11 | 0.9 | 17 | 0.1 | 2 |
| All other staff (excluding HA staff) | 0.1 | 5 | 1.1 | 41 | 0.1 | 3 |
(79) In 2002,1 HA in Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland did not respond to the survey. No figures for PCTs are available before 2003 as previous years vacancy numbers were collected from Health Authorities. Vacancy numbers for each year refer to the number of vacancies occuring in the 12 month period between 1 April and 31 March.
(80) Vacancy numbers for Leicestershire PCTs (3) 2000 data not available.
(81) 2000 data not available.
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