HC Deb 23 July 1984 vol 64 cc411-2W
Mr. Dobson

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will list the eight contracted-out services referred to in his Department's press release 84/50, and give in each case the savings achieved together with the estimated cost of the related administrative tasks involved in the competitive tendering;

(2) which of the eight contracted-out services referred to in his Department's press release 84/50 replaced existing in-house provision; and if he will give in each case the number of jobs lost, the number of hours of work lost per week, the total value of the redundancy payments made and whether the savings were net of these payments.

Mr. Kenneth Clarke

I understand that the estimated annual savings compared with the in-house tenders achieved by the health authorities concerned are Leeds Western £45,000, Medway £357,000, East Surrey £163,000, Maidstone £88,000, Bromley £58,000, North Warwickshire £70,000, Merton and Sutton £126,000, and North West Surrey £210,000. I would expect annual savings when compared with the previous cost of the service before the tendering process to be greater than this.

Region Location Bed complement Number of beds currently staffed and available Date of opening
Northern St. Lukes Hospital, Middlesbrough 30 25 November 1980
Trent Towers Hospital, Leicester 60 15 July 1983
East Anglian St. Andrews Hospital, Norwich 36 10 May 1984
North East Thames Runwell Hospital, near Southend 10 10 April 1983
South Western Langdon Hospital, Dawlish, near Exeter 30 10 June 1983
Mersey Rainhill Hospital, Prescot, St. Helens 50 36 August 1983

The number of beds occupied by patients fluctuates from day to day and information about this is not collected centrally. In addition, seven Regions currently provide 260 beds in 13 designated interim secure units as follows:

Region Location Bed complement
Yorkshire Stanley Royal Hospital, Wakefield 18
North West Thames Leavesden Hospital, near Watford 62
St. Bernards Hospital, Ealing 14
South East Thames Oakwood Hospital, Maidstone 6
Cane Hill Hospital, Coulsdon Bethlem Royal Hospital, 6
Beckenham 15
Wessex Knowle Hospital, near Fareham 14
South Western St. Lawrence's Hospital, Bodmin 28
West Midlands Coleshill Hall, Birmingham Lea Castle, near 8
Kidderminster 18
Barnsley Hall, Bromsgrove 12
Central Hospital, near Warwick 15
North Western Prestwich Hospital, near Manchester 44

The contract at Medway replaced a management contract and those at Bromley, North Warwickshire, Merton and Sutton and North West Surrey replaced in-house provision. The other information requested is not held centrally.

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