HC Deb 08 February 1972 vol 830 cc319-20W
Mr. Dodds-Parker

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many epileptics he estimates there are in England and Wales; and what arrangements there are for financial help to them.

Mr. Alison

I accept the estimates made in the report "People with Epilepsy", published for my Department in 1969, that in England and Wales there may be up to 300,000 sufferers from epilepsy. People with epilepsy are covered by the general arrangements for social security benefits; thus those who are incapacitated for work have the same entitlement to sickness and invalidity

benefits and to supplementary benefits as those who suffer from other illnesses.