§ Mr. Anthony Grantasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what advice he has given to health authorities on the practical and financial advantages of using the services offered by the commercial laundry and textile rental industry as a viable alternative to the allocation of public funds to new and existing National Health Service laundry facilities;
(2) if he will establish a permanent liaison body consisting of his Department and the commercial laundry and textile rental industry for the purpose of monitoring proposals for hospital laundry developments and to assist health authorities in assessing the various alternative methods of fulfilling their requirements.
§ Sir George Young[pursuant to his reply, 28 January 1981, c. 441]: A paper by the study group on regional plans and the first report by the NHS Advisory Committee on Laundries, issued to health authorities in 1974 and 1978 respectively, both drew attention to the possibility of using commercial laundries to meet NHS needs, and I have made clear on many occasions that I would be glad to see authorities making greater use of their powers to employ contractors. While I have no plans at present to establish a liaison body of the kind suggested, the Department has developed its informal contacts with the industry, and when it examines proposals for new NHS laundries it takes account of the consideration that has been given to commercial alternatives.