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Written question asked by Lord Willis of Knaresborough (Liberal Democrat), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Earl Howe (Conservative) on Monday, 25 February 2013.

Patient Advisory and Liaison Service

Question

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the total allocation of resource to the Patient Advisory and Liaison Service in each of the years 2010-11 and 2011-12; and what is the total budget allocation for local Healthwatch organisations in the years 2013-14 and 2014-15.[HL5444]

Answer

On the Patient Advice and Liaison Services (PALS), the current cash allocation for is not identified separately within the National Health Service budget because it is seen as an integral part of overall NHS running costs.

In April 2002, £10 million was added to the NHS baseline budget to reflect the activity of PALS. Since then this sum has been adjusted annually in line with the overall NHS budget allocation.

On Healthwatch, we have made £43.5 million available nationally in 2013-14 for local authorities to fund local Healthwatch. Provisionally, we expect to allocate the same amount in 2014-15.

Of this, £30.2 million of local Healthwatch funding will be made available nationally through the Local Government Finance Settlement. It is for local authorities to choose how best to spend money allocated in this way.

The remaining £13.3 million will form a part of the new Local Reform and Community Voices Grant. This grant covers a number of funding streams, including local Healthwatch. This grant is not ring-fenced, so again it will be for local authorities to decide how best to spend their grants.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
743 cc255-6WA; HL5444
Session
2012-13
Subjects
Finance Patient advice and liaison services Healthwatch
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk