Health Services (Gloucestershire)

I hope that the Minister will answer the core question about the criteria that the PCTs are being set—whether we are considering monthly balance or clawing back the deficit. The deficits have not arisen suddenly; they have existed for a long time. My constituents want to know why the crunch has suddenly come now, because that gives them the impression that the NHS is not budgeting properly. If the Chancellor can budget in his Red Book for a three-year programme, why cannot the NHS do that?