§ Sir M. Stoddart-Scottasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance whether he has yet received the Report of the National Insurance Advisory Committee on the question of long-term 167W hospital patients; and what recommendation the Committee have made about the benefits of mentally disordered patients detained in legal custody.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterYes. The Advisory Committee's Report is being published today, and copies are available in the Vote Office. I am indebted to the Committee for a very valuable Report, and am accepting all its recommendations, the most important of which is that mentally disordered patients who, as the result of criminal proceedings, are sent to hospital and not sentenced to imprisonment, should be treated in the same way as other sick people and not be disqualified from any National Insurance benefits to which they may be entitled. I shall, as soon as possible, be submitting to the Committee draft regulations designed to implement its recommendations.