§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish the number of houses that have been proposed and constructed, respectively, by each local authority since Section 3(1) of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 came into force; and if he he will make a statement.
§ Mr. FreesonFrom 29th August 1970, when this section came into force, to 30th June 1974, English local authorities submitted proposals for 1,721 dwellings with special provision for the needs of disabled persons and completed 203 such dwellings. Prior to local government reorganisation on 1st April 1974, 248 authorities had made proposals and 56 had completed dwellings. Since 1st April 1974 proposals have been made by 24 authorities and nine authorities have completed dwellings.
Detailed figures for individual authorities are not immediately available, but I will write to my hon. Friend.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what research has been undertaken to ascertain the suitability of mobility housing for handicapped people who use but are not confined to a wheelchair; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. FreesonResearch on this subject is described in an Occasional Paper issued by my Department's Housing Development Directorate in July this year. I am sending a copy to my hon. Friend. We need, within our housing programmes, to increase the range as well as the amount of the provision for physically handicapped people. The concept of mobility housing has an important part, along with other initiatives, in opening up new opportunities.
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§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has for alternatives to institutional accommodation for young disabled people; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. FreesonCircular 74/74 outlined a range of housing alternatives and said that increasingly the emphasis should be on housing in the community, not in institutions. This will help young as well as older disabled people. My Department and the Department of Health and Social Security are working up, with a number of authorities, new housing schemes in which severely disabled people, mostly young, will be able, given appropriate support, to live in the community.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what advice he has given to local authorities regarding the assessment of the level of need for specialised housing for severely disabled people;
(2) what advice he has given to local authorities regarding the priority on waiting lists to be given to disabled people who require either specially designed or mobility housing.
§ Mr. FreesonMy Department's Circular No. 74/74 on housing for disabled people gave advice on the importance of assessing their needs and on ways of doing so and included references, in this context, to those severely disabled. It asked all local authorities to set about securing, with housing associations, that a range of suitable housing—including specially designed and "mobility" housing—was made available. This will enable greater priority to be given to meeting the needs of disabled people, whether on waiting lists or not.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what advice he intends to give to local authorities regarding the operation of Sections 56 and 65 of the Housing Act 1974 in respect of registered disabled persons.
§ Mr. FreesonAdvice has been given in the Department's recently published Circular No. 160/74, a copy of which I am sending to my hon. Friend.