§ Mr. ThurnhamTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish a summary of the responses to his consultation paper on long-term care; if he will list the organisations and individuals who responded; and if he will put a copy of the responses in the Library. [1821]
§ Mr. BurnsThe Department of Health received 598 responses to the consultation exercise launched by the publication of "A New Partnership for Care in Old Age".
Of these, 319 responses commented on the consultation paper itself. Copies of these will be placed in the Library, except where respondents asked for them to be treated as confidential. The other responses commented on media reports or the Department's own summary of the consultation paper. The table shows the source of the different comments.
Comments on: Source of comments Consultation paper Summary/comments on media reports Total Financial services industry 83 3 86 Local authority/social services 73 2 75 NHS 44 9 53 Other care providers 33 1 34 Voluntary organisations 53 5 58 Individuals 33 259 292 Total 319 279 598 We are grateful to all those who commented and will take their comments into account in taking our proposals forward.