§ 3.5 p.m.
THE COUNTESS OF LOUDOUNMy 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 what steps they propose to take to remedy the serious defects of the services at present available for those suffering from mental illness and mental handicap, bearing in mind the plight of hospital patients now being discharged into a community which does not provide the necessary aftercare.
§ LORD WELLS-PESTELLMy Lords, while considerable improvements have been made, the pace of development has not matched the hopes which were expressed at the time when the White Paper was issued in June 1971. My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Social Services accordingly recently announced her intention to press for higher priority to be given to loan consents so that the pace of development of local authority services for the mentally handicapped could be brought up to the level envisaged in the White Paper.
I want to be perfectly frank and tell your Lordships that the Government are fully aware of the present deficiencies in both health and social services for the mentally ill. We have already expressed the intention of giving high priority to such services in our allocation of resources.
THE COUNTESS OF LOUDOUNMy Lords, while thanking the noble Lord for that Answer, may I ask whether it would be possible to have greater evaluation of the local authority service already in existence, bearing in mind that to provide the wrong after-care facilities would be wasting resources which are already very scarce? Also, could the noble Lord tell me when the White Paper on Services for the Mentally Ill is likely to be published, to clarify the present uncertain position about the run-down of the hospitals for the mentally ill?
§ LORD WELLS-PESTELLMy Lords, to take first the second point of the noble 289 Countess, it is the intention of my right honourable friend the Secretary of State to produce the White Paper to which the noble Countess referred in the very near future. With regard to the assessment of the situation now to be found in local authority areas, I cannot give an exact account to your Lordships of what is taking place, except to say that my right honourable friend is satisfied with the progress that local authorities are making. The real problem at the present moment is that of money, and I think I ought to say to your Lordships that we have not been able to make as much allocation in this field as the local authorities themselves would like. This lack of progress is not due to lack of effort on the part of local authorities but to the lack of money.
§ LORD AVEBURYMy Lords, is the noble Lord aware that after-care facilities are being provided by voluntary bodies under the auspices of the National Association for Mental Health? Further, would he encourage local authorities to give every assistance to these local organisations which can provide the services at a lower cost than the local authority itself, but which most of the time have to beg for money from various foundations while finding great difficulty in receiving full grants from their respective local authorities?
§ LORD WELLS-PESTELLMy Lords, my right honourable friend has always accepted that there is a tremendous part for local voluntary organisations to play in this matter, and many of them, as I am sure the noble Lord knows, are in receipt of grants from various sources and various trust funds. However, the problem is so huge that local authorities must in the main undertake the educational and residential facilities which are necessary. As I say, there is no hesitancy on their part to do it; the difficulty is in providing them with means.
§ LORD DAVIES OF LEEKMy Lords, is my noble friend aware, anent this Question, of the plight of discharged hospital mental patients? Some of us who have represented areas with magnificent mental hospitals are aware of the good work of small businessmen and small factory owners in employing discharged 290 mental patients. Could it be put on record by the Government that we appreciate this? Is my noble friend aware that these people do this, when there is a tendency to cast aside thousands of voluntary workers these days in favour of some paid type of service?
§ LORD WELLS-PESTELLMy Lords, I accept everything that my noble friend has said on this matter but, if I may say so with respect, the Question related to the menially ill and the mentally handicapped who have to be looked after in the community because they have no friends, no families and nowhere to go. I recognise, because I have personal knowledge of it, the amount of help which is given to-day to the mentally ill by a large number of individuals. But those who have no home and no job must become the responsibility of the local authority which must provide the educational and residential facilities.
§ BARONESS SUMMERSKILLMy Lords, may I ask my noble friend how much publicity has been given to this matter, in view of the fact that there are large numbers of middle-aged couples without children and with vacant accomrnodation in their homes who might be willing to give accommodation to these people if the situation were explained to them? Has the Department given any thought to that aspect of the question?
§ LORD WELLS-PESTELLMy Lords, I cannot give my noble friend a satisfactory reply on this point. I do not know to what extent there has been any advertising on the lines that she suggested, but this is a matter which has been mentioned several times in debates in your Lordships' House and I will take the matter up to see what the position is.
§ LORD SEGALMy Lords, could not the Government endeavour to extend the scope and increase the rate of the attendance allowance, which would go a long way towards relieving pressure both on the hospitals and on the local authorities?
§ LORD WELLS-PESTELLMy Lords, perhaps my noble friend will allow me to look into this matter, and if there is anything I can say to him I will communicate with him.