§ Mr. John Grantasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will take steps to speed up and extend the availability of temporary replacement invalid cars for disabled people whose cars undergo repair or maintenance; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. AlisonEach specialist firm with which the Department has arrangements for the repair of invalid three-wheelers keeps a number of reserve vehicles for temporary loan purposes. These are serviced regularly and are inspected from time to time by visiting technical officers. The reserve fleet is under continuous review and as the older vehicles wear out they are replaced by newer ones. In areas where additional vehicles are needed, these are being provided as quickly as possible, consistent with the availability of suitable vehicles and the storage capacity of the particular firm.
It is sometimes impracticable to provide a suitable reserve for a disabled person who has a specially adapted vehicle and in these cases the staff of our artificial limb and appliance centres try to ensure that the repairs are given a degree of priority. The case for spending more on the reserve vehicle arrangements has to be balanced against the need to extend the basic provision to as many people as possible.