§ Mr. Les Huckfieldasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will now direct the West Midlands regional health authority to commission a further survey of the effects of proposed opencast mining operations on Nuneaton hospitals, employing an independent surveyor who does not normally work for the opencast executive or who has not done work in the past for any of the parties involved in the proposed application for opencast mining near Bermuda village, Nuneaton.
§ Mr. Geoffrey FinsbergNo. This is a matter solely for the West Midlands regional health authority to decide.
§ Mr. Les Huckfieldasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) on what authority the West Midlands regional health authority and the North Warwickshire district health authority refused to permit access to the hon. Member for Nuneaton to their commissioned survey of the effects of opencast mining on Nuneaton hospitals;
(2) on what authority the West Midlands regional health authority and the North Warwickshire district health authority have permitted the press to publish information related to their confidential commissioned survey of the effects of opencast mining on Nuneaton hospitals.
§ Mr. Geoffrey FinsbergI understand that a summary of the report of the survey of the possible effects of opencast mining on Nuneaton hospitals was publicly available at the meeting of the North Warwickshire health authority on 14 February 1983 and that copies were made available to the local press. A copy of the summary and of the report itself has been sent to the hon. Member by the chairman of the West Midlands regional health authority.