HC Deb 01 February 1988 vol 126 cc691-2
9. Mr. Morley

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he plans to increase funding for Dial-a-Ride services.

Mr. David Mitchell

How much to spend on this or other forms of transport for disabled people is a matter for the local authority in the area concerned.

Mr. Morley

Does the Minister support the extension of dial-a-ride schemes to other parts of the country, particularly rural areas? Does he also accept that it should be the objective of such schemes to give the people involved a journey at least once a week? How do the Government justify the freezing of the present grant to the London dial-a-ride schemes?

Mr. Mitchell

Provision for the disabled in Scunthorpe is provided by the Age Concern minibus and the social service car scheme. The introduction of a dial-a-ride scheme in the area is a matter for the local authority. In many parts of the country local authorities have made such enormous savings, following bus deregulation, that they have the resources to spend on that particular form of service for the disabled, if they want to. The London figure for this year has been increased by the level of inflation, but we believe that much more can be secured by better use of resources.

Mr. Robert G. Hughes

Bearing in mind my hon. Friend's comment that existing resources can be better used, does he accept that many people are not yet able to use dial-a-ride because they simply cannot get through to it and that, therefore, we do not know how many people are still trapped in their own homes? Will my hon. Friend consider sympathetically other earmarked requests—for instance, for a new telephone exchange for London dial-a-ride, which would do a substantial amount to promote better use of the facilities?

Mr. Mitchell

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for drawing attention to the difficulty that some people have in making contact with the dial-a-ride services in London, and I shall consider his point about the telephone.

Mr. Robert Hughes

Will the Minister take account of the powerful alliance of the two Robert Hugheses in the House on Dial-a-Ride? Does he accept the effectiveness of Dial-a-Ride and the benefit that it provides to disabled people, especially elderly women? Does he agree that we should aim for one trip a week for those who need the services, not one trip in 11 weeks, and will he use every effort, including the provision of money, and his considerable influence to increase and improve Dial-a-Ride schemes throughout Britain?

Mr. Mitchell

The dial-a-ride services that are currently available are insufficient to meet all the transport needs of those who depend upon them. Neither the costs nor the assumptions that underlie the one trip a week campaign are entirely accurate or realistic. But I am not unsympathetic to the alliance across the House, which wishes adequate resources to be given to the scheme, and I want to see the good use of those resources.