asked the Secretary of State for Social Services further to his reply to the hon. Member for Holborn and St. Pancras (Mr. Dobson) on 19 November 1986, Official Report, columns 221–222, whether he will break down the expenditure on consultants' fees between the National Health Service and social services.

The expenditure by the Department in 1984–85 and 1985–86, and the estimated expenditure for 1986–87, on fees and expenses for outside consultants is as follows:

£ million
Year	Health matters	Social security matters
1984–85	·911	6·689
1985–86	1·7	11·946
1986–87	4·525	12·437

The figures are approximate. In some cases expenditure on health/social security has been apportioned where consultants have been employed on both. The figures for health matters include social services consultancy. The figures for expenditure by individual health authorities have not been given as they are not kept centrally by the department.