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Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Forgive me, I will not. I have referred to the hon. Gentleman and I will do so again if I have time. The hon. Member for Sevenoaks asked a question about the resource accounting issues in the NHS. The Department of Health is seriously looking at the case for reversing the past impact of the resource accounting and budgeting deductions from trusts and the future of the application of that accounting system. Once that assessment has been completed, decisions will be announced without delay. Essentially, the complaints of the hon. Member for Rochdale (Paul Rowen) boiled down to the claim that we are not doing enough for further education. He made a particular plea for FE in his area. I was fortunate that my hon. Friend the Minister for Higher Education and Lifelong Learning was sitting next to me. In 1997, the total capital available for FE was zero. This year it is £500 million. That is a significant change and a sign of how strongly we support the further education system. The right hon. Member for Fylde (Mr. Jack) spoke about the tax law rewrite project. The Paymaster General and I, who have steered some of the tax rewrite Bills through Parliament, appreciate his work on the steering committee. He is interested in the buy-back terms for self-generated electricity. In this Finance Bill, we are legislating to ensure that there will be no income tax take on that. Ofgem is likely to look at the barriers and incentives that may be appropriate to support the development of that sector. The hon. Member for West Suffolk is concerned about the North sea tax regime. There are unique characteristics of the North sea that make that tax regime important and distinct from other systems. Off the back of the discussion paper that we published yesterday, we are interested in having a wide-ranging discussion with the industry on that. My hon. Friend the Member for Warrington, North made an impassioned speech about education. In particular, she seemed to be concerned about specialist schools and whether there is really any evidence that they work. Specialist schools make up about 85 per cent. of the school system now. The percentage of good GCSEs gained generally within the system is about 58 per cent. In specialist schools, it is 3 per cent. higher, at 61 per cent. My hon. Friend the Member for North Durham gave us a clear exposition of the state of the health service. [Laughter.] Well, he talked about the reduction in waiting lists, the increase in staff and the introduction of new technologies. He is absolutely right. He also mentioned that, in a deprived and disadvantaged area of his constituency, there was school that was nevertheless in the top 10—among the most improved schools in the country. I congratulate Janet Bridges, who is the head of Stanley school of technology, her staff and the students on that. I promised to come back to the hon. Member for Billericay. The right hon. Member for Hitchin and Harpenden was also concerned about the NHS. Their cry was, ““Where has the money gone?”” First, there are over 1 million more operations in the NHS than there were in 1997. Secondly, in 1997 the number of people who waited more than 13 weeks for an out-patient appointment was over 330,000. In January this year, it was 103. In 1997, the number of people who waited for in-patient operations for more than six months was over 280,000. In January this year, it was 299.