§ 20. Mr. G. M. Thomsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many mechanically-propelled vehicles were issued to disabled persons by his Department during each of the last five years.
§ Mr. MaclaySince the Answer to the hon. Member's Question involves a number of figures, I shall, with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Mr. ThomsonIs the Secretary of State aware that the standards applied to the award of these vehicles seem to be very mean and harsh and that there appears to be room for a generous increase in the number of these vehicles to be made available? Would the Minister look again at the case of a severely crippled constituent of mine, which I referred to him recently, who struggles heroically to work across the city every day instead of relying on public funds, and who is still declared ineligible for one of these vehicles?
§ Mr. MaclayI will look at the matter again if the hon. Gentleman cares to write to me. In terms of one category only, the number of tricycles issued rose from 158 in 1955 to 292 in 1959.
§ Following are the figures:
NEW AND REPLACEMENT ISSUES OF CARS AND TRICYCLES | ||||
Year | War Pensioners | N.H.S. Patients Tricycles | Total | |
Cars | Tricycles | |||
1955 | 10 | 35 | 158 | 203 |
1956 | 12 | 44 | 191 | 247 |
1957 | 16 | 30 | 189 | 235 |
1958 | 44 | 35 | 210 | 289 |
1959 | 49 | 36 | 292 | 377 |