§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will sponsor an urgent independent investigation in to the incidence of cancer, by type, by location and by age group of the sufferer, in the counties of Gwynedd and Dyfed.
§ Mr. Nicholas Bennett[holding answer Thursday 6 June]: The Welsh Office is, of course, aware of the long-known higher than average incidence of cancer in North Wales, as well as the below-average incidence in Dyfed. Preliminary analysis of data for the period 1984–86 shortly to be published by the Wales Cancer Registry confirms that the pattern has not changed significantly since 1983.
In 1987 the Department commissioned Professor Hubert Campbell to undertake an investigation into cancer rates along the North Wales coast for the period 1974–83. The report was published in July 1988 and concluded that though there was an excess of 5 per cent. in cancer registrations over the whole period on the North Wales coast when compared with the whole of Wales, this pattern was the same as that known to affect North Wales many years ago. I see no reason for the Welsh Office to commission an independent investigation of the incidence of each type of cancer in Gwynedd and Dyfed at this time.