§ Mr. Formanasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many mentally handicapped persons there are (a) in the United Kingdom, (b) in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, respectively, (c) in Greater London, (d) in the London borough of Sutton and (e) in the Sutton, Carshalton parliamentary constituency, according to the most recent estimates.
§ Dr. OwenThe White Paper "Better Services for the Mentally Handicapped" (Cmnd 4683) explains that we do not know precisely the prevalence of mental handicap. Estimates based on surveys carried out in different parts of the country suggest that there may be some 120,000 severely mentally handicapped people in England and Wales, over 6,000 in Northern Ireland and about 19,000 in Scotland. The numbers of mildly mentally handicapped are much greater, Because of local variables these national estimates cannot be used as a guide to estimate numbers in individual areas.