§ Mr. George Rodgersasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what classes of information she is prepared to give, in answer to parliamentary Questions, about the implementation by local authorities of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970.
§ Mr. Alfred MorrisI assume my hon. Friend to be referring to Sections 1 and 2 of the Act. As regards Section 1, I already receive returns of numbers of people newly registered each year, and in the case of Section 2 statistical information about help provided to households. All this is published annually, and copies of the 1973–74 figures for Section 2 have now been placed in the Library. As a general principle I am always glad to make available any information which does not involve either my Department or a local authority in a disproportionate amount of work. Some aspects of the implementation of both sections are not susceptible to measurement by straightforward statistics—for example, the extent to which authorities translate the findings of a process of identification into planning terms.