To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioner doctors' practices there were in 1995; and how many there are now. [107228]

The information requested for England and for Wales is shown in the table.

Unrestricted Principles and Equivalents (UPEs)1 and Partnerships as at 1 October 1995 and 30 September 2001
	1995		2001
	UPEs	Partnerships	UPEs	Partnerships
England total	26,702	9,062	27,843	8,817
Wales total	1,719	534	1,785	517
1 UPEs include GMS Unrestricted Principals, PMS Contracted GPs and PMS Salaried GPs.

Sources:Department of Health General Medical Services Statistics England and Wales as at 1 October 1995Department of Health General and Personal Medical Services Statistics England and Wales as at 30 September 2001 Department of Health Statistics for General Medical Practitioners in England: 1991–2001The 1995 data for England and for Wales, and the 2001 data for England is available from: www.doh.gov.uk/public/ NHSWorkforce.htmThe National Assembly for Wales published the data for 2001 at:www.wales.gov.uk/keypubstatisticsforwalesheadline/content/healthInformation relating Scotland and Wales are the responsibility of the devolved Administrations. While the institutions in Northern Ireland are dissolved responsibility rest with Ministers in the Northern Ireland Office.