§ Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what is her estimate of the saving in supplementary benefit of the pocket money payments to psychiatric hospital in-patients of working age;
(2) what is her estimate of the number of psychiatric hospital in-patients of working age who will be eligible to receive the pocket money rate of £2 a week proposed in "Social Security Provision for Chronically Sick and Disabled People".
§ Mr. Alec JonesI assume that the hon. Member is referring to the 70,000 long-stay patients of working age in mental hospitals, for whom supplementary benefit was previously envisaged as explained in paragraph 57 of my right hon. Friend's report to Parliament on "Social Security Provision for Chronically Sick and Disabled People", House of Commons Paper 276 of 1974. On that basis, the cost in supplementary benefit would have been up to about £7 million at current levels of benefit or up to about £8 million at the levels proposed for April 1975.