§ Mr. Patrick Jenkinasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement about the increase in the number of patients under 65 years of age resident in accommodation used for the care of elderly persons reported in the statement for 1974–75 under Section 17 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970.
§ Mr. Ennals,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 23rd June 1976: Vol. 913, c. 569], circulated the following information:
The small increase in the year ending June 1975 is due in the main to the reclassification of some wards by some area health authorities. Until next year's figures are available, it will not be possible to say whether the increase represents a change in the general trend downwards. Since these statistics were first collected in October 1971, there has been an overall decrease of 31 per cent. in the number of younger handicapped patients unsuitably accommodated in wards for the elderly.