Crispin Blunt

Conservative Party | Reigate

NHS Performance Indicators

Mr. Blunt: The issue is the political manipulation of the health service, and the right hon. Gentleman should be aware that his Department and his predecessor have a record in that regard, not least in my constituency and that of the hon. Member for Crawley (Laura Moffatt). Our hospitals were put together in a trust following an organisation programme agreed by the Department, which was unpopular in Crawley, as services were moved to my constituency. The right hon. Gentleman's predecessor ordered a moratorium two months before the general election in 2001 at a cost of £50,000 a month, as we established through parliamentary questions. The Department has refused to let me have the advice given by the trust, which was against the moratorium, both in principle and because patient safety was involved. If the Secretary of State is going to address the need for greater transparency in the health service, will he give an undertaking that I will get a copy of the advice that the trust gave at the time of his predecessor's decision?

Dr. Reid: There is a simple way, as the hon. Gentleman knows, to get information that is classified as confidential and privy to Ministers and their advisers. It is called an election, and such information is available to the elected Government, as the hon. Gentleman well knows because, as a former adviser to a Conservative Defence Secretary, he was privy for a number of years to information given in confidence to Ministers and on which assessments were based. Much of that information would have been of interest to hon. Members, but he was not expected to reveal it, and I am not prepared to reveal information that is confidential to Ministers and their advisers. That is how it will stay.

House of Commons Debates for 7th January 2004 (pt 6)