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Primary Care Trusts

Volume 494: debated on Monday 15 June 2009

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding has been allocated to primary care trusts under his Department's Express Local Improvement Finance Trust programme; and if he will make a statement. (279932)

No specific additional funding has been allocated to primary care trusts under the Department's Express Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT) programme.

The Department invested £210 million of enabling capital funding in the first four waves of the original LIFT programme to assist primary care trusts and local authorities with the costs of appointing long-term partners from the private sector.

The Express LIFT framework has been designed, through the careful pre-selection and approval of the Express LIFT framework partners, to reduce the time and cost for primary care trusts in appointing LIFT partners. This has eliminated the need for any further allocation of enabling funds for the formation of any future LIFT partnerships.