§ Mr. TurnerTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, further to his reply of 14 June,Official Report, column 424, what is the rationale of replacing chairmen of family practitioner committees who have long service on that committee with chairmen who have no service on that committee.
§ Mr. MellorIt has been our policy to recruit a proportion of new chairmen for family practitioner committees at each biennial appointments round. A total of 25 new chairmen were appointed as part of the 1989 round and a further 29 existing chairmen were re-appointed. The two vacancies referred to in my earlier reply have since been filled by Mr. D. Kleeman (Enfield and Haringey) and Mr. L. G. Knox (Redbridge and Waltham Forest) who are lay persons new to service in FPCs. The 36 other chairmanships had previously been made for a period—in most cases of four years—ending on 31 March 1991. It would not be appropriate for me to comment on a decision relating to a particular chairmanship.