§ Mr. Bradfordasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people are currently registered as disabled, including blind persons, in Northern Ireland; and how the total compares, pro rata, with the number of disabled persons in the rest of the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. Carter,pursuant to his reply [Offical Report, 28th June 1977; Vol. 934, c. 185], gave the following information:
387WFigures for Northern Ireland relate to disabled persons with whom the social services departments of the various Health and Social Services Boards were in contact. The latest available information is at 31st December 1974, when the total was 13,298 persons, representing a rate of 8.6 per 1,000 population. The Northern Ireland Department of Health 388W and Social Services is considering the form in which statistical information about the numbers of physically handicapped persons should be maintained in future.
Numbers of disabled people in the rest of the United Kingdom are the responsibility of my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State concerned.