§ 14. Mr. Win GriffithsTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many applications by chronically sick and disabled people in (a) Ogwr, (b) Mid Glamorgan and (c) Wales, were made in 1987 for (i) central heating and (ii) other home adaptations; and how many of these were approved in 1987.
§ Mr. GristInformation on the form of assistance given for home adaptations for the disabled and the number of applications made and approved is not collected by the Department. What I can tell the hon. Gentleman is the number of grants that were completed in 1987. For Wales the total was 2,325; of these 333 were in Mid Glamorgan and 96 in the district of Ogwr.
§ Mr. GriffithsIs the Minister aware that in the district of Ogwr there are currently 600 chronically sick and disabled people on the waiting list for central heating alone? Will the Minister look at some way of providing more money from the Welsh Office to enable those people to obtain the central heating that is so often essential for the medical conditions from which they are suffering?
§ Mr. GristI am concerned at what the hon. Gentleman has said. Perhaps he will let me have a few more details on the position in his constituency. In general, Welsh district councils appreciate the needs of the disabled, and I understood that such applications were treated with priority by them.