Meeting of the Parliament 02 May 2018
As I have said to Mike Rumbles on a number of occasions, NHS Grampian is one of the biggest gainers from the NHS Scotland resource allocation committee formula and it gains again this year.
I turn to the Tory motion. If the Tories are suggesting that the health and care budget is inadequate, which I think that Miles Briggs suggested in his speech, they have a responsibility to set out what level of funding they propose and how it would be funded, particularly in the light of their opposition to the progressive use of taxation. Under the Tory tax plans, there would have been £500 million less available for public finances, including the NHS. Therefore, Miles Briggs has a responsibility to address that. Perhaps in the Tories’ closing speech, we will hear about the level of resources that they think the NHS should have and where they would come from.
Many of the areas that Miles Briggs raises in his motion are areas on which I have been engaging with the Health and Sport Committee for some time. In response to the financial issues raised and the asks made in the Tory motion, I have today written to the committee, providing information on the first round of consolidated financial reports for integration authorities, an update on NHS boards’ financial performance, and the development of a medium-term financial framework for health and social care. I have agreed to review the progress of the integration authorities, and I believe that that is best done through the ministerial strategic group. I am happy to share with the Health and Sport Committee the outputs and any further actions that arise from that.
I have also set out my proposal to provide monthly information on NHS boards’ financial performance for 2018-19. Data for boards’ first formal reporting period for the financial year will be available in June, and we will report monthly thereafter to the Health and Sport Committee. I hope that Miles Briggs and others agree that what has been set out is a reasonable proposal to address the concerns raised in the motion and to provide greater transparency and accountability to this Parliament.
In responding to the recommendation from the Auditor General for Scotland, I have committed to publish a medium-term financial framework, which will take account of key programme for government commitments, along with an understanding of the financial environment and the approach required to ensure financial sustainability. That framework will be published in the coming weeks and will set out clearly the environment in which we are operating. In particular, it will set out longer-term funding needs. I am confident that the publication of the framework will play an important part in giving greater clarity to NHS boards and integration authorities as they develop plans for the coming years, and it supports the principle asked for by the Greens.