§ Mr. Ernie Rossasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will allocate additional funds to Tayside health board to enable it to appoint a planning officer or director in the event of a nuclear war.
§ Mr. Allan StewartFor some years one of the senior officers of each health board has been designated as area health director. In the event of war he would be given responsibility for the control of all health services in the area; and in peacetime he has the duty of overseeing home defence planning in the board's area.
From the current year the Government are providing limited additional funds—about £200,000 a year—to enable further work to be done on home defence plans for the Health Service in Scotland. Following recent discussions between my Department and the area health directors (designate), individual health boards will shortly be advised of the additional money available to them.