§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list in the Official Report the health authorities that have considered, and rejected, privatisation of services.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeNo. District health authority programmes for competitive tendering for cleaning, catering and laundry services are being considered by regional health authorities and summaries of these programmes are not due to be sent to the Department until the end of April. We do not expect any authority to fail to implement the policy eventually. There is no authority that could not find worthwhile additional patient services that could be provided if it sought savings in the cost of its support services.