§ Mr. Thurnhamasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many mentally handicapped children are currently in local authority care; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mrs. CurrieInformation is not available centrally on the numbers of mentally handicapped children who have been received into or committed to local authority care since mental handicap in itself is not a reason for the admission of a child into such care.
However, in 1985 there were 1,500 mentally handicapped children in England under the age of 16 in local authority residential accommodation or in local authority sponsored places in voluntary or private homes or in private households. We do not know how many of those children had been formally placed in care.