HC Deb 12 July 1976 vol 915 cc71-7W
Mr. Alison

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if the investigations into an allegation of forgery of documents relating to the invalid vehicle service have been completed; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Ennals

I understand from the Department of the Director of Public Prosecutions that police inquiries have established that the document in question must be a forgery, but the source of the forgery remains unknown and there seems little prospect of establishing the identity of the person responsible.

Mr. Pardoe

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish in the Official Report the full accident statistics relating to invalid tricycles with manual gearbox, automatic transmission, electrically propelled models and four-wheeled vehicles, respectively, in England for the 12 months ended 31st March 1976, listing the information under the categories as supplied by his Department for publication in Motor magazine on 14th August 1974.

Mr. Alfred Morris

I would refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Banbury (Mr. Marten) today.

Mr. Penhaligon

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many disabled persons had their invalid tricycles withdrawn since the beginning of the year; and on what grounds the withdrawals were made.

Mr. Alfred Morris

, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 5th July 1976; Vol. 914, 436], circulated the following information in respect of England for the period, 1st January 1976 to 30th June 1976:

No. of Invalid Three Wheelers Withdrawn Reasons for Withdrawal
187 User no longer fit to control the vehicle
14 Ceased to be eligible for a vehicle
5 Misuse or neglect

Mr. Penhaligon

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many per- sons applied for an invalid tricycle since the beginning of the year; how many applications were turned down; and on what grounds the applications were refused.

Mr. Alfred Morris

, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 5th July 1976; Vol. 914, c. 436], circulated the following information in respect of England, Scotland and Wales: Of the 1,256 applications which had been decided up to about the end of June, 726 were accepted and 530 were rejected. A breakdown, by reference to the various reasons for rejection, is not available.

Mr. Marten

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) whether he will list the injury accident rate per million miles for invalid tricycles with manual gearbox, automatic transmission and four-wheeled vehicles, respectively, in the United Kingdom for the year ended 31st March 1976;

(2) whether he will publish in the Official Report the full incidence of all drivers injured in accidents involving invalid tricycles with manual gearbox, automatic transmission, electrically propelled models and four-wheeled vehicles, respectively, for the whole of the United Kingdom, for the year ended 31st March 1976, under each appropriate model type;

(3) whether he will list in the Official Report the full accident statistics relating to invalid tricycles with manual gearbox, automatic transmission, electrically propelled models and four-wheeled vehicles, respectively, for the whole of the United Kingdom for the year ended 31st March 1976, listing the full information under the categories as supplied by his Department for publication in Motor magazine on 14th August.

(4) whether he will list the total number of injury accidents per 1,000 disabled drivers and the accident involvement rate resulting in injury to drivers per 100 million miles, for the whole of the United Kingdom, for invalid tricycles with manual gearbox, automatic transmission and four-wheeled vehicles, respectively, for the year ended 31st March 1976.

Mr. Alfred Morris

, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 5th July 1976; Vol. 914, c. 436], circulated the following information in respect of England:

INJURY ACCIDENTS INVOLVING DEPARTMENTAL CARS AND THREE-WHEELERS REPORTED DURING PERIOD 1ST APRIL 1975 TO 31ST MARCH 1976
Per 1,000 drivers* Per million miles Per 100 million miles
Three-Wheelers 30 9 879
Automatic 37 12 1,194
Manual 20 5 546
DHSS Cars 12 2 203

Note: Vehicle mileage covered has been estimated and it is assumed that automatic and manual three-wheelers cover the same mileage.

DRIVER CASUALTIES
THREE-WHEELERS CARS
Type of Injury Automatic Manual Electric
Minor cuts, bruises, concussion 296 99 7 89
Severe cuts and bruises 56 34 2 20
Broken ribs etc., necessitating admission to hospital 30 14 17
Serious multiple injuries 4 1 1 2
Fatalities 10 2

ACCIDENTS INVOLVING DEPARTMENTAL CARS AND THREE-WHEELERS REPORTED DURING PERIOD 1ST APRIL 1975–31ST MARCH 1976
Collision with another vehicle or pedestrian Collision with immovable object Overturned (including those allegedly blown over) Others including theft, vandalism, damaged whilst parked
Type of vehicle Vehicles at risk (000)† Total accidents Manoeuvring Travelling Manoeuvring Travelling Fire Fatalities
Model 70 3-wheelers 10.8 3,433 983 952 621 325 195 2 355 10
Other petrol 3-wheelers 9.0 1,280 434 453 111 105 39 1 137 2
Electric 3-wheelers 1.3 180 40 47 65 6 5 Nil 17 Nil
All 3-wheelers 21.1 4,893 1,457 1,452 797 436 239 3 509 12
Departmental cars 10.2 1,922 680 674 116 78 3 7 364 Nil

Vehicles at risk (000)† Total accidents Collision with another vehicle or pedestrian Collision with immovable object Overturned (including those allegedly blown over) Others including theft, vandalism, damaged whilst parked
Type of vehicle Manoeuvring Travelling Manoeuvring Travelling Fire Fatalities
Three-Wheelers
All accident injuries (excluding fatalities) 544 48 256 16 123 95 Nil 6
Minor cuts, bruises, concussion 402 36 179 12 93 76 Nil 6
Severe cuts, bruises etc. 94 10 44 3 23 14 Nil Nil
Broken ribs/limb necessitating admission to hospital 42 2 27 1 7 5 Nil Nil
Serious multiple injuries 6 Nil 6 Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil
Fatalities 12 Nil 11 Nil Nil 1 Nil Nil
Departmental Cars
All accident injuries 128 24 85 3 10 2 Nil 4
Minor cuts, bruises, concussion 69 19 55 2 7 2 Nil 4
Severe cuts, bruises, etc. 20 5 14 Nil 1 Nil Nil Nil
Broken ribs/limb necessitating admission to hospital 17 Nil 14 1 2 Nil Nil Nil
Serious multiple injuries 2 Nil 2 Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil
Fatalities Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil
*Net figures relating to the number of drivers at risk at the end of the period which is smaller than the total number of drivers at risk during the period.
† Including reserve vehicles. Fleet size at 31st March 1976.

Manoeuvring—DHSS vehicle in collision while parking.

Travelling—DHSS vehicle in collision while travelling on public road.

Mr. Carter-Jones

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many disabled people established entitlement to help under the former vehicle service in each of the last five years; what is his estimate of the number who would be entitled to such help in 1976 if the scheme were in operation; what proportion of these people will not satisfy the criteria of the mobility allowance;

1971 1972 1973 1974 1975
Number of invalid three-wheelers supplied to first applicants 2,116 2,023 2,420 2,308 2,409
Number of cars supplied to first applicants 741 803 1,609 1,227 1,510
Number of allowances put into payment for first applicants with private cars 894* 4,551 4,705 4,702 5,901
Total 3,751 7,377 8,734 8,237 9,820
Notes:
(i)*Car conversion grants and private car maintenance allowance. The present private car allowance was introduced in 1972.

(ii) The figures from year to year for invalid three-wheelers and cars are slightly distorted by varying delivery periods.

(iii) War pensioners to whom the benefit of the special vehicle scheme continue to be available are included.

There is no reason to suppose that the number of first applications for vehicles and allowances in 1976 would have varied significantly from the above pattern if the former vehicle service had still been in operation.

It is not possible to know how many of those who applied and were found eligible for benefits under the former vehicle scheme would also have satisfied the conditions of entitlement to mobility allowance which, as my hon. friend will be aware, are different from those applicable to the former scheme.

A cardinal feature of the mobility allowance scheme is that, for the first time, it extends mobility help to those who cannot drive a vehicle. To have expected to achieve this for all age-groups at once would have been unrealistic.