§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list, by health care provider, for each of the last four years, the number of contracts each health authority had in place, indicating how many of these had been referred for arbitration within the NHS region; and how many were left unsigned by(a) the provider and (b) the purchaser at the end of the year to which they applied, and, for 1997–98, by the end of October 1997. [14610]
§ Mr. Win GriffithsInformation on the number of contracts between health authorities and trusts or on their status is not held centrally.
During the period 1 April 1993 to 30 March 1997 only one contract between a Welsh Health Authority and NHS trust went to arbitration. None are expected to go to arbitration in 1997–98.