§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many appointments he expects to make to self-governing hospital trusts assuming 250 such trusts and a board of 10; and if he will estimate the value of such appointments assuming the chairpersons of such trusts were remunerated on the present basis of district health authority chairs and the other directly appointed members received £1,000 each.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeAs the hon. Member will be aware from chapter 3 of the White Paper "Working for Patients", I shall be responsible for appointing the chairman of each National Health Service hospital trust and up to three out of a possible five non-executive members. I am considering the question of remuneration for the chairman and non-executive members. There is little point in calculating the value of these appointments on the basis of assumptions plucked out of the air.