Publication of the Health Funding Review report

1240/5(1773)

QUESTION TO BE ASKED OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE ON TUESDAY, 21st JANUARY 2003

BY DEPUTY M.F. DUBRAS OF ST. LAWRENCE

Question

1. W  ould the Presidentindicate when members will be receiving an unabridged version of the Health Care Funding Review?
2. W  ould the President explain whymembers have notreceived a copy of this reportgiven that it was quoted duringtheBudget debate?

Answer

1. T h e Health CareFundingReviewwas jointly commissionedbythreeCommittees: Health and Social Services, EmploymentandSocialSecurity and Finance and Economics.Thepublicationof the report is therefore an issue for all three Committees, not just Health and Social Services. ThethreeCommittees were due to receive a presentation of the reportby its author latelastyear. Unfortunately this presentation was cancelled due to inclement weather preventing his arrival in the island. A re-arrangedjoint meeting is due to be held early in February 2003.Itisexpected that the Committees will form an initial view of the report at that stageand publish it shortly thereafter. ThePresidentsof the Finance and Economics,and the Employment and SocialSecurityCommitteeswould prefer the publication of the report tooccurafter the three Committees have received the presentation.
2. T h e Health and Social Services Committee has, by some margin, the largest budget of any States department. Against this background it wouldbesomewhat strange ifno reference were to be made, in a budget debate, to a report that dealt with the issue of future health care funding. Asexplainedin the previous answer, the review wascommissionedby three Committees so anydecisionasto its distribution cannot bemine alone. Formy part I am more than happy for any memberto have a copyof the report, but they will also need to secure the agreement of the Presidents of the Finance and Economics and EmploymentandSocialSecurityCommittees.