§ Mr. Dixonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what are the current figures for the number of persons receiving home help services; and what information he has as to (a) what age groups they are in and (b) their residential status.
§ Mr. John PattenThe information requested is not available centrally. Figures showing total number of cases attended during the year are published annually by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy in their report "Personal Social Services Statistics". Their latest report, although not entirely complete in coverage, shows that in 1982–83 home helps in England attended a total of 684, 368 clients. In 1979, when equivalent figures were last collected by the Department, the following was the break-down of clients by age groups:
166W
per cent. persons aged under 65 12 persons aged 65 to 74 29 persons aged 75 and over 59 Almost all home help services are provided to those living at home but no information is available centrally about the proportions of clients who own or rent their own accommodation or live in council owned housing.