§ LORD FRASER OF LONSDALEMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government how many invalid three-wheel motor vehicles provided by the Health Service and the Ministry of Pensions are now in issue; how many are purchased each year, and what is the price of such a vehicle; and whether they have considered the alternative of supplying a standard modest four-wheel vehicle, for which two or three of the big motor manufacturers might quote.]
§ BARONESS PHILLIPSMy Lords, in England and Wales at September 30 there were 17,790 powered invalid three-wheelers on issue. About 4,000 are purchased each year; it is not customary to disclose Government contract prices. Small four-wheeled cars are already available to war pensioners who are eligible for invalid three-wheelers and to certain limited categories of National Health Service patients. The more general supply of four-wheeled cars instead of three-wheelers is essentially a matter of priorities in the allocation of the resources available for the further development and expansion of the Health and Welfare Services and is reviewed, along with other competing demands, from time to time.
§ LORD FRASER OF LONSDALEMy Lords, I understand the difficulty that the Minister may have in stating a price, but it would surprise me if the price of a vehicle of a special nature, of which 4,000 are ordered every year, could possibly be competitive with a standard four-wheeled small vehicle of which hundreds 352 of thousands are made every year and to which, of course, adaptations could be made. Will the Minister or the Department look at this figure to see whether my alternative suggestion is not in fact more economical for the nation as well as better for the purchaser?
§ BARONESS PHILLIPSMy Lords, as the noble Lord will know, the Ministers constantly have this question under review. I have had conversations about these three-wheeled vehicles with people who have put the same point as the noble Lord. I find that these vehicles are specially designed for the ease with which the disabled person can get into them and the ease with which he can store his own invalid chair in them, and the nearest type of standard car would not be easily adapted or suitable for these purposes. But once again I will convey to the Minister the noble Lord's comments, as this is constantly under consideration.
§ LORD FRASER OF LONSDALEMy Lords, while thanking the Minister, may I ask her to present to the Ministers concerned that the view she has expressed, which I am sure she fully believes, is not generally adhered to by the people concerned and that I also think that the price would be lower.