§ Mrs. Anne Campbell (Cambridge)I beg leave to present a petition which has been sent to me by some of my constituents. The petition is from the community practitioners and health visitors associations of Huntingdon and Cambridgeshire and residents of the area. The petition has more than 3,000 signatures, collected in a short time, and it declares:
That the proposals of the Cambridge and Huntingdon health authority to reduce the budget for health visitors and school nurses by £300,000 in 1997–98 are deplorable and will result in a marked deterioration in the standard of services that could be offered by health visitors and school nurses, frustrating their ability to fulfil their responsibilities to deliver primary preventive care and health promotion throughout the community.The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Health to review the proposals of Cambridge and Huntingdon health authority to reduce its expenditure on health visitors and school nurses by £300,000 for 1997–98 and to take any necessary steps to ensure that the provision of primary preventive care and health promotion in Huntingdon and Cambridgeshire remains at least at current levels.And the Petitioners remain etc.
§ To lie upon the Table.