§ Mr. Freesonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will take steps to ensure that local authorities are able to provide sufficient numbers of home helps and meals on wheels and other such services to elderly and disabled people, in view of the fact that the numbers of such people requiring these services are growing and that cutbacks are being made in local authority finances.
§ Mr. John PattenIt is for local authorities to determine the level at which they provide home helps, meals on wheels and similar services to elderly and disabled people, taking into account the resources available to them and the complementary contributions being made to the welfare of those people by other statutory voluntary and informal provision in their areas. The Government acknowledge that demographic and other social pressures affect the demand for local authority personal social services and have reflected this in their plans for expenditure in these services over the next few years.
The home help service plays an essential role in the range of domiciliary support available for elderly and disabled people and we have in mind to consult the local authority associations on a possible study by the Department's social work service of the development and effectiveness of home help.