§ Mr. Eadieasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many exemptions from prescription charges have been granted since the reintroduction of prescription charges in Scotland for the classes qualifying; and how many complaints his Department has received about the administration of the scheme.
§ Mr. RossIn Scotland approximately 1,356,000 children up to 15 years of age and approximately 609,000 persons aged 65 and over are exempt on grounds of age. The latest available information indicates that the numbers of people exempt on other grounds are as follows:
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1. Expectant and nursing mothers 48,700 2. Persons suffering from a specified medical condition 31,300 3. Pre-payment certificates 3,200 4. War and service disablement pensioners 28,300 5. Persons in receipt of supplementary benefit and their dependants 160,000* 6. Persons assessed as needing help to pay the charges and their cependants 2,800 * Some of the people included in category 5 are also included in categories 1, 2 and 4; their number is not known. Out of the 147 complaints received by my Department on the scheme as a whole only nine have been about the administration of the scheme: all of them have been satisfactorily resolved.