asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will rectify the situation whereby certain nurses employed at Osborne House, Cowes, Isle of Wight, are employed through agencies and therefore do not enjoy the same privileges as others in the same establishment who are employed direct.

A degree of flexibility in staffing arrangements can help to cope with fluctuations in the workload. For the time being it continues to be necessary to employ a limited number of agency nurses at Osborne.