§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales under what powers he has requested the Llandough national health service trust to bid to provide community health services for the Vale of Glamorgan; what other organisations have been asked to make bids for the same services; if he will publish the terms of reference to the invitation to reply; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. RedwoodSection 5 of the NHS and Community Care Act 1990 contains the power to make, and by implication to amend, an order establishing an NHS trust. A range of non-statutory guidance has been issued on trust-related matters, including the procedures to be followed prior to the submission of a formal proposal for NHS trust status.
I have placed in the Library of the House a copy of the letter inviting Llandough Hospital NHS trust to prepare formal proposals to extend its current range of patient care to include community and mental health services for the Vale of Glamorgan. As can be seen, I have not given my final consent to the bid so far. No other health body in South Glamorgan has been asked to prepare such proposals for this area, though all expressions of interest have been taken into account.