Health Committee, 08 Sep 2005

Meeting date: Thursday, September 8, 2005

Official Report 221KB pdf

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Budget Process 2006-07

The sixth item on the agenda is consideration of the budget process 2006-07. I do not propose to spend a huge amount of time on this. A paper has been circulated to all members. I should point out that, this time, our approach is slightly different; I want members to take a view on the recommendations on page 2 of the paper and to agree them. Do members have any strong views otherwise? Is everyone happy with the proposed approach?

Members indicated agreement.

I realise that it marks a change in the way in which we normally do things, but this is not a normal year as far as budget scrutiny is concerned.

The clerk has just pointed out that we need to give a steer on two or three specific issues that we want to focus on.

With regard to

"Efficiency Savings in the Care Commission",

which is programme 10 in the paper, one problem that we have already identified is that the commission has to be self-funding. I think that we should pursue that issue.

That is one issue. Do members have any other suggestions?

Given the changes in health care provision, one important issue must be information technology. In the paper, it comes under the heading of

"Programme 3—NHS Logistics Reform",

which takes in technology, procurement and so on.

We do not want to have any more than two or three issues.

I wanted to flag up four issues in the paper, two of which have already been mentioned. The other two are prescribing, which represents a huge part of health service expenditure, and inappropriate hospital admissions. I think that prescribing is programme 4 in the paper.

Do members have any other suggestions?

We should just stick with those issues.

We will focus on three issues: efficiency savings in the care commission; logistics and IT; and prescribing.

I think that, if we had room for four issues, inappropriate hospital admissions would come in with the Kerr report anyway.

The danger is that our list could be endless. I suggest that we stick with and work on the three issues that have been identified. Are members agreed?

Members indicated agreement.

Can I ask a technical question?

If it is too technical, I will have to defer it.

There has been talk in the media today of what have been termed time-releasing savings. I assume that they form part of the 2006-07 budget, but it might be only fair to ask the clerk to have a wee look at where such savings fit into all of this. After all, many assertions have been made about what they will deliver.

We will seek clarification of what time-releasing savings are, as opposed to any other kinds of savings.

That ends the public business. I ask members of the public to leave the committee room.

Meeting continued in private until 15:57.