Margaret Smith, in her capacity as convener of the Health and Community Care committee, wrote yesterday (Tuesday, July 4) to Health Minister Susan Deacon seeking clarification over the reported underspend of the Scottish health budget.

The text of her letter is as follows:

Dear Susan, You may be aware the Health and Community Care Committee met for the last time before recess on 21 June 2000 and therefore has not been able to consider the following as a committee; however as Convener of the Health and Community Care Committee, I am writing to you to express my concerns, the concerns of colleagues in the Parliament and the public, regarding the reported underspend of £135m in the Health budget and the possible transfer of £34m out of the Health budget.

Given the number of conflicting statements that have appeared I would be obliged if you could clarify the following: -

Why an underspend of £135m has occurred in the Health budget and the reasons why this has happened at a time when health has been identified as one of the Executive's major priorities.

I would also welcome an explanation as to how the decision was arrived at to split the unspent monies (£34m) with 75% remaining within the department and 25% being taken as a reserve. The explanation should include details of the reasons for the differential and who was involved in the process that arrived at these figures.

It has been suggested that £34m unspent will be placed in a contingency fund to be utilised by the Scottish Executive Health Department, can you confirm if this is indeed the case, and if so, what the contingency fund will provide in terms of service delivery. If this is not the case can you explain how the £34m will be allocated, when it will be allocated and by whom.

Given the significance of this matter I look forward to hearing from you as a matter of urgency.

Margaret Smith
Convener
Health and Community Care Committee

BACKGROUND NOTES

The committee's membership is as follows: Convener: Margaret Smith (LD). Malcolm Chisholm (Lab), Dorothy-Grace Elder (SNP), Duncan Hamilton (SNP), Hugh Henry (Lab), Margaret Jamieson (Lab), Irene Oldfather (Lab), Mary Scanlon (Con), Richard Simpson (Lab), Kay Ullrich (SNP), Ben Wallace (Con).