§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what instructions he has sent to local authorities regarding the identification of agoraphobics living in their areas for the purposes of implementing the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970; and what criteria he has issued as guidlines for their identification.
§ Sir K. Joseph,pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 29th June 1973], gave the following information:
Advice issued by my Department in August 1970 confirmed that persons whose handicap was a mental one were within the scope of Section 1 of the Act. It would not be appropriate for me to suggest criteria for the identification of persons suffering from particular mental 74W disorders and no guidance on identification of such persons has been issued.
§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if agoraphobia is within the definition of disablement for the purposes of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act, especially regarding the provision of telephones.
§ Sir K. Joseph, pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 29th June 1973], gave the following information:
Yes: but, although the local authority associations have recommended to their members criteria for provision of telephones for handicapped people generally, I should point out that it is for each local authority to determine what particular forms of help to provide in any particular case.