HC Deb 07 June 1976 vol 912 cc584-91W
Mr. Litterick

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many telephones are provided free of installation charges by each local authority in England and Wales; and how many registered blind adults live in each local authority area;

(2) how many registered blind adults there are in the United Kingdom; and how many of these are without telephones in their homes;

(3) what is the estimated cost to the Exchequer of providing all blind adults with telephones, free of installation and monthly rental charges.

Mr. Alfred Morris

Numbers of households assisted with the provision of telephones in England and Wales during 1974–75, the latest year for which infor- mation is available (Table 1), and most recent information available on the

TABLE 1
Installation of
Local Authority Telephones Attachments Telephone Rental
NORTHERN REGION: TOTAL 1,107 76 1,301
Non-Metropolitan Counties:
Cleveland 143 8 157
Cumbria 78 36 200
Durham 207 2 212
Northumberland 45 3 40
Metropolitan County—Tyne and Wear:
Districts
Gateshead 53 4 90
Newcastle upon Tyne 294 10 302
North Tyneside 78 2 129
South Tyneside 93 1 64
Sunderland 116 10 107
YORKSHIRE AND HUMBERSIDE REGION: TOTAL 1,060 38 1,957
Non-Metropolitan Counties:
Humberside 279 8 472
North Yorkshire 192 9 435
Metropolitan County—South Yorkshire:
Districts
Barnsley 39 1 37
Doncaster 81 4 22
Rotherham 50 1 154
Sheffield 52 48
Metropolitan County—West Yorkshire:
Districts
Bradford 26 2 130
Calderdale 29 1 112
Kirklees 102 5 231
Leeds 97 7 187
Wakefield 113 129
NORTH WESTERN REGION: TOTAL 4,848 296 8,654
Non-Metropolitan Counties:
Cheshire 428 53 1,278
Lancashire 985 75 1,127
Metropolitan County—Greater Manchester:
Districts
Bolton 56 2 64
Bury 29 2 14
Manchester 1,172 71 1,228
Oldham 185 4 297
Rochdale 126 3 25
Salford 38 5 587
Stockport 197 28 462
Tameside 165 11 55
Trafford 68 12 561
Wigan 232 2 137
Metropolitan County—Merseyside:
Districts
Knowsley 152 5 234
Liverpool 576 1,744
Sefton 129 9 68
St. Helens 128 179
Wirral 182 14 594
WEST MIDLANDS REGION: TOTAL 2,079 61 4,772
Non-Metropolitan Counties:
Hereford and Worcester 134 5 335
Salop 89 1 66
Staffordshire 282 16 511
Warwickshire 157 5 355
Metropolitan County—West Midlands:
Districts
Birmingham 697 1,684
Coventry 198 8 717
Dudley 63 244
Sandwell 150 3 475
Solihull 119 23 209
Walsall 34 169
Wolverhampton 156 7

numbers of registered blind people (Tables 2 and 3), are as follows:

Installation of
Local Authority Telephones Attachments Telephone Rental
EAST MIDLANDS REGION: TOTAL 1,613 97 3,271
Non-Metropolitan Counties:
Derbyshire 213 828
Leicestershire 375 5 571
Lincolnshire 41 36 156
Northamptonshire 337 10 441
Nottinghamshire 647 46 1,275
LONDON NORTH REGION: TOTAL 2,085 109 4,098
Non-Metropolitan Counties:
Bedfordshire 497 31 852
Berkshire 195 8 370
Buckinghamshire 128 6 405
Cambridgeshire 124 14 167
Essex 390 2 1,307
Hertfordshire 391 24 381
Norfolk 68 5 146
Oxfordshire 190 13 202
Suffolk 102 6 268
LONDON REGION: TOTAL 6,547 703 16,950
INNER LONDON: TOTAL 3,608 388 10,654
Camden 260 70 996
Greenwich 501 96 1,054
Hackney 89 1 167
Hammersmith 218 19 248
Islington 669 27 1,812
Kensington 95 17 348
Lambeth 336 18 582
Lewisham 515 16 1,398
Southwark 107 6 701
Tower Hamlets 98 4 522
Wandsworth 435 99 2,185
Westminster 283 15 615
City of London 2 26
OUTER LONDON: TOTAL 2,939 315 6,296
Barking 65 9 305
Barnet 208 29 570
Bexley 90 13 263
Brent 354 69 249
Bromley 86 3 108
Croydon 72 3 285
Ealing 263 9 807
Enfield 178 14 275
Haringey 255 32 835
Harrow 129 24 344
Havering 86 6 417
Hillingdon 279 30 133
Hounslow 60 8 82
Kingston-upon-Thames 63 1 111
Merton 155 11 469
Newham 84 2 189
Redbridge 85 6 336
Richmond-upon-Thames 185 7 78
Sutton 42 5 336
Waltham Forest 200 34 104
SOUTHERN REGION: TOTAL 2,033 189 4,300
Non-Metropolitan Counties:
Dorset 309 21 779
Hampshire 270 85 645
Isle of Wight 19 1 112
Kent 747 53 667
Surrey 374 4 944
East Sussex 81 14 460
West Sussex 100 3 308
Wiltshire 133 8 385

Installation of
Local Authority Telephones Attachments Telephone Rental
SOUTHERN WESTERN REGION: TOTAL 653 48 1,786
Non-Metropolitan Counties:
Avon 216 8 698
Cornwall 64 3 152
Devon 147 20 493
Gloucestershire 195 16 432
Somerset 31 1 11
WALES: TOTAL 1,270 40 2,260
Non-Metropolitan Counties:
Clwyd 280 20 900
Dyfed 150 5 390
Gwent 70 150
Gwynedd 90 160
Mid-Glamorgan 80 80
Powys 10 30
South Glamorgan 200 5 220
West Glamorgan 390 10 330

The figure for installations of telephones and attachments relates only to the initial installation during 1974–75. The figure for rentals excludes cases where telephones and attachments were installed for the first time during that year.

As my hon. Friend will understand, the total number of telephones provided since the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 came into force is substantially greater than that shown above.

TABLE 2
REGISTERED BLIND PEOPLE AGED 16 AND OVER ON 31ST MARCH 1975
(ENGLAND AND WALES)
Local Authority
NORTHERN REGION:
Non-Metropolitan Counties:
Cleveland 1,000
Cumbria 910
Durham 1,180
Northumberland 500
Metropolitan County—Tyne and Wear:
Districts
Gateshead 420
Newcastle upon Tyne 640
North Tyneside 310
South Tyneside 480
Sunderland 490
YORKSHIRE REGION:
Non-Metropolitan Counties:
Humberside 1,730
North Yorkshire 1,400
Metropolitan County—South Yorkshire:
Districts
Barnsley 550
Doncaster 640
Rotherham 490
Sheffield 1,110

Local Authority
Metropolitan County—West Yorkshire:
Districts
Bradford 1,080
Calderdale 330
Kirklees 630
Leeds 1,830
Wakefield 660
NORTH WESTERN REGION:
Non-Metropolitan Counties:
Cheshire 1,710
Lancashire 3,170
Metropolitan County—Greater Manchester:
Districts
Bolton 640
Bury 380
Manchester 1,250
Oldham 580
Rochdale 500
Salford 660
Stockport 520
Tameside 450
Trafford 380
Wigan 500
Metropolitan County—Merseyside:
Districts
Knowsley 410
Liverpool 1,560
Sefton 570
St. Helens 370
Wirral 970
WEST MIDLANDS REGION:
Non-Metropolitan Counties:
Hereford and Worcester 1,130
Salop 660
Staffordshire 1,600
Warwickshire 830
Metropolitan County—West Midlands:
Districts
Birmingham 1,930
Coventry 550
Dudley 520
Sandwell 650
Solihull 180
Walsall 600
Wolverhampton 510

Local Authority
EAST MIDLANDS REGION:
Non-Metropolitan Counties:
Derbyshire 2,170
Leicestershire 1,820
Lincolnshire 1,080
Northamptonshire 910
Nottinghamshire 1,960
LONDON NORTH REGION:
Non-Metropolitan Counties:
Bedfordshire 840
Berkshire 920
Buckinghamshire 730
Cambridgeshire 840
Essex 2,930
Hertfordshire 1,600
Norfolk 1,200
Oxfordshire 780
Suffolk 1,130
LONDON CENTRAL REGION:
Camden 440
Greenwich 410
Hackney 560
Hammersmith 510
Islington 410
Kensington 350
Lambeth 700
Lewisham 590
Southwark 670
Tower Hamlets 450
Wandsworth 730
Westminster 510
City of London 2
OUTER LONDON:
Barking 310
Barnet 830
Bexley 340
Brent 540
Bromley 650
Croydon 680
Ealing 640

TABLE 3
Country Date Number of Registered Bind People aged 16 and over
England 31st March 1975 97,000
Wales 31st March 1975 6,500
Scotland 31st December 1974 9,900 (provisional)
Northern Ireland* Not available
* The information is not yet available but will be sent to my hon. Friend as soon as possible.

Information is not available about the proportion of cases helped where local authorities make a charge or about the number of telephones provided for blind adults.

The cost of providing all blind adults with free telephones is estimated at £4.4 million for installation charges and £3.2 million annually for rental charges.