§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what is his estimate of the total number of children who were damaged by thalidomide;
(2) what is his estimate of the number of children whose claims for thalidomide damage have not yet been accepted;
(3) what steps he has taken to investigate the problems of those children whose claims for damage by thalidomide have not yet been accepted.
§ Mr. Alfred MorrisWhile it is not possible for me to be certain of the number of children damaged by thalidomide, I am advised that it is likely to have been of the order of 400 in this country.
I understand there are some 80 to 90 children whose claims to be included in the thalidomide settlement have not yet been accepted. We are sponsoring a number of studies into the needs of handicapped children, covering a wide range of handicaps and a variety of needs, and are carefully examining the findings as we receive them. The work being done includes important studies by the research unit at York University, which was set up originally by the Family Fund but is now to be funded direct by my Department. None of these studies is specific to the problems of the "Y List" children, but many of their problems and the solutions to them will be similar to those of other handicapped children. As my hon. Friend will appreciate, the "Y List" children are entitled 63W to services and cash benefits from the statutory agencies, and from the Family Fund, on the same basis as handicapped children generally.