To ask the Secretary of State for Health what independent reports have been issued about the progress of general practitioner fund holding.

The Kings Fund report on GP fund holding—"A Foothold for Fundholding"—was published on 11 February and a copy is available in the Library. We welcome this first piece of independent, academic research undertaken by Professor Howard Glennerster of the London School of Economics which shows that GP fund holding is proving to be a clear success and, most importantly, working to the benefit of patients.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 30 January, Official Report, column 668, what proportion of the general practitioner fund holders' budget for hospital services is spent outside the NHS.

This information is not collected centrally.