HC Deb 28 May 1976 vol 912 cc490-1W
Sir George Young

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how much revenue he anticipates raising through fees for certificates to build private hospitals under Part III of the Health Services Bill.

Dr. Owen

As I said in the debate on Second Reading of the Health Services Bill on 27th April 1976, I intend, subject to the necessary amendments being moved and agreed, to substitute a simple notification procedure for what the Bill currently describes as certification; there will be no charge to the developer for this simple procedure. As far as applications for authorisations are concerned the Bill provides for fees to be prescribed, and I shall be consulting on this matter in due course. However, I envisage that the approach to charging should be to meet administrative costs and not to raise revenue.