§ 108. Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many patients in hospitals for, respectively, the mentally ill and the mentally handicapped receive pocket money, apart from money given for work done in the hospital, because they have no income from other sources; and what percentage these figures represent of total patients in both types of institution.
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§ Sir K. JosephThis information is not regularly collected centrally. Special returns of pocket money paid by hospital authorities under Section 133 of the Mental Health Act 1959 to patients aged 16 and over were last obtained for the week including 24th May, 1971. These indicated that in England 18,275 such patients in hospitals for the mentally ill and 35,446 in hospitals for the mentally handicapped received such pocket money in that week. These figures were 18.8 per cent. and 74.8 per cent. respectively of the total patients aged 16 and over in the hospitals concerned.
§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what progress he has made in transferring responsibility to the Supplementary Benefits Commission for payment of pocket money to patients in mental hospitals.
§ Sir K. JosephI cannot at present forecast when the necessary additional resources might become available.
§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many patients in hospitals for the mentally ill and mentally handicapped receive pocket money of £1.35 per week, and how many receive less than £1.35 per week.
§ Sir K. JosephFor the week including 24th May 1971, 6,339 patients in hospitals for the mentally ill received pocket money at the maximum rate—at that time £1—and 11,936 less than this amount. Corresponding figures for hospitals for the mentally handicapped were 4,425 and 31,021.