asked the Minister of Health whether, in view of the fact that he has accepted the optical employees as fit and proper persons to be registered as contractors, and that they have Whitley Council representation, he will reconsider the decision excluding employee pharmacists in retail practice from representation on the Whitley Council created for pharmacists.

No, Sir. It would not be apppropriate to accord representation on the Whitley Councils being set up for persons engaged in the National Health Service to persons who are not in contract with, or directly employed by, any of the bodies constituted under the Act.

Since the operation of the National Health Service Act will, presumably, depend on many hundreds of registered medical pharmacists who are employed by Co-operative Societies, and so on, and since the Minister has already accorded optical employees such recognition, does he not think it fair and desirable in the national interests that pharmacist employees should be given the same degree of recognition?

Persons in the bodies referred to by my hon. Friend already have their own appropriate organisations. It is not proper to give representation on the Whitley Council to persons only indirectly employed.