asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he is satisfied with the progress towards implementation of the recommendations of the Resource Allocation Working Party; and if he will make a statement.

The recommendations of the Resource Allocation Working Party have been fully implemented at national level and, in general, form the basis of the calculation of target allocations by regional health authorities within their regions. I shall not be satisfied until an improving national economy allows us to devote more resources to the NHS and speed up the pace of change to a fairer distribution of resources as indicated by the targets.