Prime Minister's question asked in the House of Commons, by Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative). It was answered on Wednesday, 30 November 2005 on behalf of the Prime Minister.

Official engagements

Question: The Prime Minister will be aware of the waste of millions of pounds of taxpayers' money in the Paddington health campus, which has failed. Will he then explain, as I am sure that he wishes to avoid any future waste of money, why no Health Minister was willing to give evidence to the independent inquiry?

Answer: I have no doubt that we will get the right mix of services for the hon. Gentleman's constituency and others. He knows why the campus could not go ahead, but that should not detract from the fact that hundreds of millions of pounds of extra money are going into hospital building. The real-terms increase for the health authority in his area—[Interruption.] I know that Opposition Members do not want to hear about the increases in health spending, but they are going to. I do not know why a Minister did not go to the committee—[Interruption.] In my own way, I do not know why a Minister did not attend, and I will write to the hon. Gentleman and tell him why. There you go—that is one in two years. [Laughter.] The real-terms increase in health service spending in his area is more than 6 per cent., which means 3,800 more nurses, 500 more consultants and 30 more GPs. That is a very good reason why people in his constituency and elsewhere should vote Labour.

Secondary information