asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) why there has been further delay in starting work on the temporary health centre at Thames-mead Area III; when construction is now planned to begin; and when the centre is now expected to come into operation;(2) if he will take immediate steps to ensure that adequate working accommodation is available for the nine members of the Thamesmead Area III health care team in the period before the completion of the planned temporary health centre.
I am informed by the Greenwich and Bexley Area Health Authority, which is now responsible for health centre provision, that the original plans for this project were unacceptably expensive. However, it is being redesigned, and it is intended that building should start in May 1977, with completion in May 1978. In the meantime, the authority hopes that premises offered by the Greater London Council at Thamesmead will enable it to expand the existing interim provision and improve the working accommodation.