HC Deb 12 January 2004 vol 416 cc607-8W
Mr. Blizzard

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many adults with learning disabilities there were in the UK in(a) 1997 and (b) 2003; and how many of these were aged 60 or over. [146679]

Dr. Ladyman

Data on the number of adults with learning disabilities in England are not centrally available.

The learning disability white paper, "Valuing People (1999)", estimated that there are about 210,000 people with severe and profound learning disabilities in England. Of these, around 65,000 are children and young people, 120,000 are adults of working age and 25,000 are older people. In the case of people with mild/moderate learning disabilities, lower estimates suggest a prevalence rate of around 25 per 1,000 population—some 1.2 million people in England.

Information relating to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are matters for the Devolved Administrations.

Mr. Blizzard

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much earmarked funding has been provided to local authorities for a(a) older people's services and (b) adults with learning disabilities in each of the last three years for which figures are available. [146731]

Dr. Ladyman

The Department does not earmark any funds to local authorities specifically for older people or learning disability services. Local authorities decide how much to make available for services to older people and those with learning disabilities from the overall amount provided for adult personal social services by the Department.