§ Mr. Lawrenceasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what proportion of the hospital service subcontracts (a) laundry, (b) catering and (c) cleaning to private firms.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeInformation exclusively for hospital services is not available centrally, but the latest annual accounts of health authorities in England (for 1982–83) show that for hospital and community services together the following proportion of authorities incurred some expenditure on external contracts for these services:
Per cent. Laundry 92 Catering 24 Domestic/cleaning *99.5 * All but one authority. Overall, authorities spent 11.5 per cent., 0.2 per cent. and 2 per cent. respectively of their current expenditure on laundry, catering and domestic/cleaning services under such contracts. The first effects of new guidance to health authorities last September on competitive tendering for such services will not be reflected in their accounts before 1984.85.