§ Mr. Ellis Smithasked the Minister of Health if he will make a full statement on his Department's correspondence with the City of Stoke-on-Trent since 1951 over the proposed health centre at Blurton-Newstead; what decision was taken on the tender of £36,000; to what extent the proposal conformed to Section 21 of the National Health Service Act, 1946; and why the health centre has not been provided for the urgent needs of the people in this expanding area.
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§ Mr. Walker-SmithThe council's first proposal in April, 1952, was to build four general practitioner surgeries, not a health centre. In 1953, a proposal for a health centre under Section 21 was made, and was approved in 1954, but in February, 1956, when the council's plans were in an advanced stage, restrictions on capital expenditure made it impossible to proceed. In December, 1957, the council submitted a tender price of £36,000, a saving of £2,300 was effected, and loan consent was issued for the revised sum in August, 1958. I have recently been informed that the general practitioners concerned, except for two partners, no longer wish to work from the centre, and the council proposes therefore to provide only one general practitioner surgery.