§ 17. Mr. JohnTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his assessment of the state of repair of hospitals in South Wales.
§ Mr. GristDistrict health authorities are directly responsible for keeping their hospitals in an acceptable state of repair. They are required to follow estate management guidance issued by the Welsh Office and encouraged to spend a minimum of 7.5 per cent. of their total financial resources on the maintenance of plant and buildings. Capital allocations to district health authorities for their discretionary use will rise by nearly 21 per cent. next financial year compared to this year and thus should greatly assist their programmes of estate maintenance and rationalisation.