§ Mr. Topeasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what evidence leads, in his Department, to the conclusion contained in his letter of 5th January 1973 to the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam that the incidence of death caused directly by hypothermia, or where hypothermia was a major contributory factor, is small.
§ Sir K. JosephAs explained in my hon. Friend's letter, the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys records all cases in which hypothermia is mentioned on a death certificate, whether or not it was an underlying cause of death and regardless of how the death would be classified under the normal rules of International Classification of Diseases. This indicates that during 1971 there were 407 such cases, of which 334 were over age 65.
As indicated in my reply to the hon. Member for Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles (Mr. David Steel) on 22nd December last, the total number of deaths where the underlying cause has been attributed to hypothermia or states where hypothermia may be a significant factor is less than half this level.—[Vol. 848, c. 505.]
§ Mr. Topeasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if his Department will consider making special grants available to local authorities to enable them to carry out the heating and insulation programmes suggested in his circular 33/72.
§ Sir K. JosephIt is for local authorities to determine the priority to be given to such programmes in their area with the financial assistance available to them from the Exchequer through the rate support grant.