§ Mr. Freesonasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what action his Department has taken to implement section 3 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 since May 1979.
§ Sir George YoungThe Department has no function under section 3 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970, which requires local authorities to have regard to the needs of disabled people when discharging their duty to consider housing conditions and needs in their districts. It is for individual local authorities to determine what provision to make in the light of local circumstance. The Government continue to ask authorities, in making decisions on their housing investment programmes, to concentrate the available resources on those in special need, including disabled people.
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 4 November 1983—[Vol. 47, c. 482]—in which I set out the progress made in the field of housing for disabled people since this Government took office.