Applying resource allocation formulae to constituent parts of the U.K

Abstract

If the health care budgets of the constituent nations of the United Kingdom in 1977-78 are added together and then redistributed on the RAWP formula there would be a significant movement of resources from Scotland and Northern Ireland and to England and Wales. The differential geographical allocation of resources within the U.K. is critically appraised, and it is argued that the higher resource allocations of the Thames regions and of Scotland and Northern Ireland have been examined imperfectly with polemics rather than analysis. However, the political costs are such that RAWP-type goals for the U.K. would be difficult to achieve.