To ask the Secretary of State for Health

(1) what recent representations his Department has (a) received from and (b) made to local NHS organisations on delays in receiving additional funding for improving maternity care;

(2) pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Macclesfield of 5 February 2008, Official Report, columns 783-84W, on maternity services, how much of the £330 million will be available in (a) the 2008-09 financial year and (b) each of the next two financial years.

We have received a recent representation from the Royal College of Midwives. A national newspaper also made representations to finance officers of NHS trusts.

The £330 million is our national estimate of the total investment primary care trusts (PCTs) need to make over 2008-09 to 2010-11 to support delivery of the Maternity Matters strategy. This is being provided to the national health service as part of their overall PCT allocations. We then use the operating framework to set out our priorities for the NHS—including Maternity Matters. But how best to deliver those priorities, including how much resource to spend on different policy areas in each year, is a matter for the NHS to decide locally in the light of their local circumstances.