§ Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with area health authorities in Wales about paragraph 48 of the Consultative Document on Health and Personal Social Services, which stresses the need for restraint in National Health Service expenditure on new buildings for the care of mentally handicapped persons.
§ Mr. Barry JonesViews on this consultative document were invited by 31st July. Discussions have taken place with the chairmen of the area health authorities and I intend to have a further discussion with them when the period of consultation is over. Paragraph 48 of the document stresses the need for evaluation before decisions are made on whether to build more domestic scale mental handicap units.