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Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

The hon. Gentleman mentioned productivity, but I urge him to read what the independent National Audit Office says about the health service. Spending doubled, so of course waiting lists went down—we would expect that—but the NAO found that health productivity fell dramatically. The spending fell to many of the best-paid staff such as consultants, so productivity did not match funding. On procurement waste, the NAO says that Firebuy, an arm's length body set up by Labour, cost twice as much to set up and run as the savings that it made. On NHS procurement, the NAO found that"““NHS…trusts pay widely varying prices for the same items.””" One NHS trust bought 177 types of surgical gloves. The huge waste in the opaque spending in local budgets needs to be addressed. For example, Cambridge fire service spends £1.77 million, an increase of £600,000, on what it defines as ““other services and supplies””. It cannot explain what that spending is. Cambridgeshire police define £7 million of spending as ““other””.