§ Mr. Tim Sainsburyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what calculations have been made of the comparative costs of residential and domiciliary care services for the elderly.
§ Mr. Geoffrey FinsbergI refer my hon. Friend to the minutes of evidence taken before the Social Services Select Committee for the session 1979–80; pages 66–70 of which give details of studies into the cost-effectiveness of different packages of care, including the comparative costs of residential and domiciliary services for the elderly. These demonstrated the difficulty of making valid comparisons, given the range of factors, for example, those related to housing and social security benefits, which may be relevant to the full cost of domiciliary care.
There are a number of continuing research projects which will supplement past research findings and improve our understanding of the comparison between different forms of care.