Labour Secretary of State for Health Patricia Hewitt has been forced to apologise for not replying to a letter sent to her by Haringey Council’s ‘watchdog’ committee.

Haringey Liberal Democrats have highlighted that whilst the apology is welcome there are no commitments to ensure the raid of Haringey’s health spending will not happen in the future.

A letter was originally sent by the Overview and Scrutiny committee in November 2006 and questioned cuts to health spending in Haringey. This received only a standard customer services reply prompting the Liberal Democrat to press for an adequate response and forcing the Labour Council leader to declare the letter “unacceptable”.

Patricia Hewitt finally replied saying the recent raid on Haringey’s health budget was a “contribution” and that this will be paid back within three years. However, she refused to say when the £12m that will be taken from the 2007/08 budget will be returned.Liberal Democrats believe that Patricia Hewitt shows in this letter the endemic failures of the Health Service under Labour and to her own declaration she does “not understand the over-spending in some parts of London”.

Cllr Richard Wilson (Lib Dem Health and Social Services Spokesperson) comments:

“Haringey Liberal Democrats believe that Patricia Hewitt should be apologising for the financial chaos she and the Labour government has put the NHS in.Haringey Primary Care Trust has been told to expect a raid of up to £12 million on this year’s budget, with no guarantee of when this money will be returned.This raid means our local NHS faces another round of cost-cutting and service reduction.”

Cllr Neil Williams (Leader of the Opposition) added:

“Haringey’s Labour MP and Labour councillors need to do more to stand up for the NHS in our area and against the Government’s mismanagement of its finances.”