HC Deb 27 January 1969 vol 776 cc910-1
2. Mr. Maurice Macmillan

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will publish the comments which he has received on the Green Paper on the Structure of the Health Service.

Mr. Crossman

Not at this stage.

Mr. Macmillan

Will the right hon. Gentleman tell the House when he intends to publish any comments that he has received on the Green Paper? If this is to be a public debate, surely it would be better if it were conducted in public so that all sides of the argument were known to all who may take part in it?

Mr. Crossman

I think that is very reasonable. I have so far received 280 comments, many of them extremely long. The difficulty is that people were not told when they sent them in that they were for publication. I have no objection to any of the interested bodies publishing on their own, but I will consider later whether anything further needs publishing.