§ Mrs. GoldingTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the estimate of the annual cost of providing publicly funded residential care for people in England who have been returned to, or retained within, the community under the community care policy; and if she will make a statement.
§ Mr. BowisThis year in England we estimate that between them local authorities and the Department of Social Security will incur net expenditure in the region of £3.5 billion supporting people in residential care and nursing homes. It is not possible to say how much of this is supporting people who have been resettled from long-stay hospitals or who might, under other circumstances, have entered such hospitals.