§ Mr. NellistTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the answer of 26 February,Official Report, column 42, if he will make it his policy to collect centrally and report to Parliament the figures in respect of the ambulance dispute referred to, for each regional health authority; and what is his policy on the collection and publication of such figures relating to London.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThere are no plans to collect this information centrally. Each health authority was responsible for making its own arrangements for emergency cover during the recent dispute and for ensuring that costs could be met from within existing resources including savings resulting from suspension of normal NHS services.
The costs of military assistance, amounting to £4.8 million to the end of February 1990, which in part resulted from the need to bring services to a state of national preparedness, are being shared between all regional health authorities.