Written question asked by Richard Taylor (Independent (affiliation)) on Tuesday, 29 January 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 31 January 2008. It was answered by Ann Keen (Labour) on Thursday, 7 February 2008 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Health Services: Public Participation

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will increase the budgets for local involvement networks.

Answer: The Department received an allocation of £84 million over three years from HM Treasury to fund the establishment and costs incurred by local involvement networks and has no plans to bid for any further funds. The allocations to local authorities (LAs) were based on two elements used in many similar cases to take account of key geographical factors such as deprivation, sparsity, area costs, etc. The first was a general baseline payment of £60,000 awarded to each LA. The second was calculated according to the Relative Needs Formula, which is used to allocate funds to LAs in other areas of work.

Secondary information