§ Mr. Cyril Smithasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement about the level of care for the mentally handicapped and mentally ill following the decision of his Department not to provide finance for more than 45 per cent. of schemes submitted for the mentally handicapped and 85 per cent. of schemes submitted for the mentally ill.
§ Sir K. JosephI expect the pace of development of services in England for the mentally handicapped during the next two or three years to fall little short of that forecast in the White Paper "Better Services for the Mentally Handicapped". Cmnd. 4683.
I fully recognise that the existing levels of community care for the mentally ill are inadequate in many cases. The lists of projects provisionally approved for the current three-year period indicate a marked expansion over existing levels; 200W and I envisage further substantial increases in the future.