§ Mr. MichaelTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many general practitioners and general practitioner practices in each county in Wales have indicated an interest in becoming holders of a practice budget.
§ Mr. GristThe information requested is shown in the table:
Family practitioner committee Number of general practitioners Number of GP practices Clwyd 34 6 Dyfed 27 6 Gwent 12 3 Gwynedd 4 1 Mid Glamorgan 53 9 Powys 14 3 South Glamorgan 26 5 West Glamorgan 47 9 FPC areas are co-terminous with counties.
§ Mr. MichaelTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what estimate he has made of the contribution that will be made by charitable giving and fund-raising towards the deficit projected by the South Glamorgan health authority during 1990–91.
§ Mr. GristMy right hon. Friend has made no such estimates. He would not expect the authority to rely upon donations to meet any part of the deficit which it is currently projecting, since it would clearly be unwise to become dependent upon a source of funding which may not be recurrent. Donations can be of considerable assistance in funding developments which might not otherwise be given priority by the authority within its modified revenue and capital allocations. However, they should not be used in substitution for firm budgetary control.
§ Mr. MichaelTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his policy on the extent of the contribution made by charitable donations and fund-raising events to the funding of the Health Service in Wales.
§ Mr. GristMy right hon. Friend and I welcome the voluntary and charitable contributions which members of the public and organisations wish to make to health authorities. Sometimes such gifts are associated with the funding of a specific service or facilities and on other occasions they are not. In each case it is a private matter between the health authority and the giver. Such arrangements are not covered by any central guidelines and have not been the subject of departmental initiative.
In determining health authority spending allocations voluntary funding and charitable donations are not considered and no central record of such gifts is maintained.