Spending Review 2000
18 July 2000
SR2000/DH
A modern and social services delivering fairness for families and communities
The Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Health will announce shortly the National Plan for investment and reform in the NHS, setting out a strategy to ensure that the new resources deliver a step change in health and quality of care.
In Budget 2000 the Government announced an unprecedented increase in NHS UK funding of 6.1 per cent average annual real terms growth over the four years to 2003-04. This is the longest period of sustained high growth in the history of the NHS. It compares to an average of 3.3 per cent annual real growth since the foundation of the NHS and 2.9 percent annual real growth between 1978-79 and 1996-97.
Today the Chancellor also announced increases in funding for personal social services and the Food Standards Agency for the next three years.
The new funding for social care and related services will deliver improved care for the elderly, children and other vulnerable groups. These improved services will:
- promote independence, better rehabilitation and care close to home for the elderly;
- improve the life chances of children in care;
- improve social care support for people with mental health problems in line with the social care standards in the National Service Framework on mental health.
The Food Standards Agency will receive an annual average real terms increase of 6 per cent. The new resources will help the Agency meet its aims to:
- improve public confidence in national food safety and standards;
- reduce food borne illness by 20 per cent by 2006;
- protect consumers through improved local authority enforcement of food safety and standards.
Welcoming the spending plans, Alan Milburn, Secretary of State for Health said:
"This package represents a historic opportunity for improvements in health and social care. The national plan for the NHS will set out a comprehensive strategy for using the increase in NHS resources to improve health and quality of care.
"The new social care resources announced today will ensure that more elderly people receive the high quality care they need to help them live active lives in the community. And the new resources will improve the life chances of children in care, by helping them reach the standards achieved by their peers in school and then in finding jobs.
"These new resources complement the new resources to support vulnerable children, young people and their families, which the Government is also announcing as part of a cross-departmental programme to improve the life chances of children and young people.
"The substantial and sustained increases in spending for the Food Standards Agency reflect the importance this Government attaches to ensuring that food safety and standards improve and that consumers are properly protected."
Notes for editors
The new resources are broken down as follows:
England
| £million (resource) | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 |
| Total Department of Health2 | 45,285 | 49,461 | 54,437 | 59,011 |
| Total NHS (net)3 | 44,485 | 48,193 | 52,264 | 56,653 |
| of which: Resource Budget | 42,852 | 45,696 | 49,103 | 53,471 |
| Capital Budget | 1,633 | 2,497 | 3,161 | 3,182 |
| Personal Social Services | 9407 | 10,032 | 11,405 | 12,208 |
| of which: net transfers into PSS4 | 0 | -10 | 705 | 784 |
| Standard Spending Assessments5 | 8693 | 8869 | 9344 | 9962 |
| Funded by Department 6 | 713 | 1174 | 2062 | 2247 |
| Food Standards Agency | 87 | 104 | 111 | 111 |
2 Sum of total NHS (net), Personal Social Services funded by Department and Food Standards Agency. 3 Net of receipts. 4 Includes transfers into PSS from Department of Social Security and out of PSS to Home Office and Department for Education and Employment. 5 Includes effect of transfers detailed in note 4 and an additional transfer from PSS SSA to PSS funded by the Department for each year from 2001-02; this means the SSA figures for 2000-01 contain £231m which has been transferred out for 2001-01 onwards reflecting these changes in responsibility. 6 This shows Department of Health-funded spending on social care and related services, which comprises mainly special, specific and capital grants to local authorities and credit approvals; includes effect of transfers detailed in note 4 and an additional transfer from PSS SSA to PSS funded by the Department. | ||||
1. Budget 2000 provided by far the biggest, most sustained growth in NHS funding of any 4 year period in the history of the NHS. The Chancellor announced average annual real terms growth in NHS cash spending over the four year period to 2003-04 of 6.3 per cent (England) or 6.1 per cent (UK). This is equivalent to a rise in cash spending per household from £1,850 in 1998-99 to £2,800 in 2003-04.
2. This will be the first period in the history of the NHS with four years of over 5 per cent real terms growth in every year
2. On 22 March, the Prime Minister set out five challenges for the NHS to address:
3. Partnership: working together across all parts of the health system to ensure the best possible care;
4. Performance: ensuring that, using information, incentives and inspection, all parts of the health system come up to the standard of the best;
5. Professions: and the wider NHS workforce: stripping out unnecessary demarcations between health care professionals so the right people deliver the right care;
6. Patient care: improving patient access by delivering fast and convenient care for patients, and empowering patients by listening to their needs and letting them know their rights; and
7. Prevention: balancing spending on tackling the causes of ill health with treating illness, tackling variations in care, and promoting healthy living.
8. The Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Health will shortly launch the results of work on each of these challenges in the National Plan for the NHS.
9. The Government's detailed response to the report of the Royal Commission on Long Term care, chaired by Professor Sir Stewart Sutherland, will be announced by the Secretary of State as part of the National Plan.
10. The Government will pilot a new 'Care Direct' phone line to provide a single gateway to information about services and benefits for older people.
11. The increases in the Food Standards Agency funding are additional to the Budget 2000 settlement for the NHS.
12. The Chancellor today announced a major programme to improve the life chances of children and young people - for more details see press notice S2000/X1.
13. For more details about the SR2000 settlement for the Department of Health, contact the press office on 020 7210 5221 /5315 / 5738/ 5225.