To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the current number of National Health Service beds per 1,000 of the population; and if he will give comparable figures for previous years at 10-yearly intervals, including the earliest year available.

The available information is given in the table.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will provide the latest figures available on the number of National Health Service hospital beds per 1,000 of the population in the United Kingdom and in other European countries.

The table gives the available information published by the OECD in 1985. It does not, however, distinguish between private and state provision of hospital beds.