§ 17. Miss Burtonasked the Minister of Health what progress he has made in collecting information from local authorities concerning the services and amenities offered to old people resident in homes run by the local authorities as mentioned by him on 26th October last; and if he will consider publishing a booklet containing this information for the benefit of local authorities and of Members.
§ Miss Hornsby-SmithA comprehensive picture can be drawn from the reports of my right hon. Friend's inspecting officers. My right hon. Friend does not feel that publication of a booklet as suggested by the hon. Lady would be the best way of making use of this material, but he is considering including in the Annual Report of the Department for 1953 a 565 short section showing progress and developments since the National Assistance Act came into force in 1948.
§ Miss BurtonWhile thanking the hon. Lady for the last part of her reply, may I ask whether she is aware that these services and amenities vary very much from local authority to local authority and that the more bias the authority has towards the pensioner the better use the old folk can make of the small amount of money left to them? Will she try to make the reference as comprehensive as possible?
§ Miss Hornsby-SmithI agree with the hon. Lady that there is great diversity in local authority homes as well as diversity in the type of resident, from the extremely infirm to the comparatively able-bodied. We feel that a better result can be achieved by the inspecting officers, who can pass on and recommend the better practice of the good areas to the less good areas and probably achieve more by so doing than we could by publishing a booklet.