§ Mr. David Jamesasked the Minister of Labour what progress has been made towards the development of further group industrial health services with the assistance of the Nuffield Foundation grant announced by his predecessor last year.
§ Mr. HareIn consultation with the Nuffield Foundation, it was decided to select two towns in older industrial areas where the prospects of establishing groups industrial health services seemed favourable. After a careful survey of potentially suitable centres, discussions were undertaken in Rochdale and Dundee by representatives of the Nuffield Foundation and of my Ministry with representative groups of local industrialists to ascertain whether sufficient support for a scheme would be assured. At Rochdale a number of the employers consulted have decided in principle to take action to bring a group industrial health scheme into being there, and have formed a promotional committee to design a scheme suited to local circumstances. At Dundee, where discussions were initiated more recently, the possibility of launching a scheme is still being explored, but the prospects appear to be promising.