§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what representations he has received from nursing organisations regarding changes in the social security payments scheme which affect their members; if he will list those organisations submitting representations; and what steps he proposes to take to remedy any difficulties;
(2) whether he has received any representations from the college of nursing dialysis and the transport nursing forum; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter LloydSoon after the introduction of the income support scheme, we received a letter from one hon.
Table 1 Supplementary Benefit (Income Support from April 1988) to people in Independent Residential Care Homes (RCH) and Nursing Homes (NH) Expenditure,£ million (current prices) Expenditure, £ million (May 1988 prices1) Number of claimants (000s) Numbers in RCH NH (000s) Average Payment (£pw, current prices1) Average payment (£pw, May 1988 prices) Proportion of residents receiving supplementary benefit percentage1 December 1979 10 18 12 — — 16.0 33.1 14 December 1980 18 27 13 — — 26.6 43.6 14 December 1981 23 31 13 — — 34.0 50.5 13 December 1982 39 50 16 — — 46.9 61.7 16 December 1983 104 127 26 — — 76.9 92.9 23 December 1984 200 234 42 — — 91.6 107.6 31 December 1985 348 385 70 55 15 95.6 105.8 44 February 1986 459 505 90 70 20 98.1 107.8 55 May 1987 671 699 117 85 32 110.3 115.0 — May 1988 878 878 147 103 44 115.0 115.0 — Notes:
1 Estimated only
2 Adjusted to constant prices on basis of RPI
3 Where '—' appears, figures are not available
298W
Table 2 Residential Care and Nursing Home Limits—April 1985–April 1988 April 1985 November 1985 July 1986 April 1987 April 1988 Residential Care Category £ (Current prices) £ (May 1988 prices) £ (current prices) £ (May 1988 prices) £ (current prices) £ (May 1988 prices) £ (current prices) £ (May 1988 prices) £ (current prices) £ (May 1988 prices) Elderly 110 123 120 133 125 136 130 136 130 131 Very Dependent or Blind Elderly — — — — 140 152 145 151 155 156 Mentally Ill 120 134 130 144 130 142 130 136 130 131 Drug/Alcohol 120 134 130 144 130 142 130 136 130 131 Mentally Handicapped 140 157 150 166 150 163 150 156 160 161 Physically Disabled under Pension Age 170 190 180 199 180 196 190 198 190 191 Member which enclosed correspondence from the royal college of nursing dialysis and transplant nursing forum. We have no plans to change the premium structure for dialysis patients at the present time.