NHS Finance

Mr. Lansley
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what capital expenditure against budget underspend the NHS was forecasting in the 2006-07 financial year at month six (a) in total and (b) broken down by NHS organisation.

Andy Burnham
The total forecast charge against the capital resource limit for 2006-07, as reported by the national health service (NHS) at month six was£2,376 million. The total forecast underspend against the capital resource limit at month six was £147 million.

A breakdown of the above figures has been placed in the Library.

Anne Main
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will provide funding to ameliorate the effects of historic debts of NHS organisations in Hertfordshire.

Andy Burnham
National health service organisations must live within their means, and it is not possible to write off debt when a particular organisation has failed to operate within its budget.

It is the responsibility of strategic health authorities (SHAs) to deliver both overall financial balance for their local health communities and to ensure each and every body achieves financial balance. However, there is a degree of flexibility in how this is managed at a local level. SHAs can agree a recovery plan which phases the recovery of deficits over a number of years. This would require other NHS organisations within the health economy to under spend over the same period. Any such arrangements would have to be subject to the agreement of local providers, commissioners and the managing SHA.