§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he has received representations from the chairman of Gwynedd health authority during the past six months on the current expenditure budget provision made for that authority for the financial year 1990–91; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. GristNeither my right hon. Friend, nor his predecessor, the right hon. Member for Worcester (Mr. Walker) have received any representation in the past six months from the chairman of the Gwynedd health authority concerning the authority's budgetary requirements for the current financial year. However, in a letter dated 7 February to the director of the NHS in Wales, the general manager of the authority outlined the authority's financial situation for 1989–90 and provided a projection of an overspend of some £4 million in 1990–91 if further action was not taken to restore financial balance.
Following discussions between the NHS director and the general manager, the authority has re-engaged the management consultants, Deloittes, Haskins and Sells to assist its officials in preparing proposals on how this might be achieved. My right hon. Friend is willing to give sympathetic consideration to any request from the authority for temporary financial assistance, so long as any such request is underpinned by a well-thought-out strategy for restoring financial balance in the medium term.