To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) in how many cases in each year since 1979 family practitioner committees deducted prescription costs from general medical practitioners, remuneration; and in which National Health Service regions those cases occurred;(2) in how many cases in each year since 1979 local medical committees invoked their powers under section 20 of the National Health Service Regulations 1974; and in which National Health Service regions such cases occurred.

Information for the period prior to August 1988 is no longer held in the Department. For the period since August 1988 the table shows for each region, on the basis of the information reported to the Department, the number of cases considered by local medical committees (LMCs) under regulation 20 of the NHS (Service Committees and Tribunal) Regulations 1974, the number of cases in which LMCs decided that the substances should not have been prescribed, and the total number of cases in which the cost of the prescription was recovered from the GP concerned.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health in how many cases in each year since 1979 PD8 inquiries were undertaken into individual doctors' prescribing practices; and in which National Health Service regions these inquiries were carried out.

Inquiries into the prescribing of practices whose costs overall are significantly above the local average (previously known as PD8 inquiries) are undertaken by medical officers of the Department's regional medical service (RMS). RMS boundaries are not conterminous with NHS regional boundaries and it is therefore not possible to provide information in exactly the form requested. The RMS is organised in six divisions and covers the NHS regions as follows: