Clause 3 - Directions: distribution of functions
NHS Reform and Health Care Professions Bill
4:00 pm
Mr Oliver Heald (North East Hertfordshire, Conservative)
Will the PCT, as an agent of the health authority, be able to carry out its role from April? In other words, is the clause legislative cover? Perhaps PCTs will acquire more powers in October. A budget must account for transferred functions, but PCTs do not yet know what their budget will be. They assume that it will be what was spent on a function in the previous year plus a bit extra, in line with pronouncements from the Government, the Chancellor and so on. Will the Minister explain how their functions and budget dovetail? If PCTs have a budget at the beginning of the financial year, they will be able to undertake their functions. If they start in October, how will that process work? Will there be a health authority budget for 2002-03, with part of the money given to the PCTs mid-year to help with the new functions? The British Medical Association and the Royal College of Nursing were told that the starting date would be April 2003. How does the timetable for implementation accommodate the functions and the money? Those factors are interlinked, and PCTs are concerned about the Government's intentions.