§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services when a start is to be made with the phasing of children under the age of 15 years into the mobility allowance scheme; how many disabled children are ultimately expected to benefit; what is his estimate of the cost of this new form of help for disabled children; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Alfred MorrisI can now announce that we shall shortly be making a further commencement order, under the Social Security Act 1975, to enable claims to mobility allowance to be accepted from 25th August on behalf 659W of children aged 11–14. Payment of the allowance will start on 24th November. With this extension of the new benefit to 11–14 year old disabled children, mobility allowance will now be available to disabled people aged between 11 and 50.
I am very glad that this new allowance, which helps not only disabled drivers but also the very much larger number of disabled people who are unable to drive, will now provide outdoor mobility help for disabled children for the first time ever. I know that my hon. Friend will agree that this is an historic breakthrough in help for disabled children, not only in this country but internationally. The new allowance is payable to disabled children in their own right and whether they are living at home or in residential care.
I shall be making a further announcement in due course about the phasing of disabled children aged between five
Value of Award 1974–75 1975–76 Title of Project Name of Applicant Place of Work £ £ Programme of research into problems and services concerning the hearing impaired. Dr. Pearson, Institute of Biometry and Community Medicine, University of Exeter. 27,000 18,436 Paedo-audiological assessment and rehabilitation services for the hearing impaired. Dr. Coles, Institute of Sound and Vivration Research, Southampton. 6,000 7,500 Study of counselling for deaf adolescents and their families. Dr. Denmark, Whittington Hospital, Preston, Lancashire. 1,500 7,600 Rehabilitation of hearing impaired adults. Mr. Watts, University of Sussex 583 2,627 The problem of communication in elderly institutionalised patients with particular reference to the role of deafness. Professor Hall, University of Southampton. 988 Nil Survey of audiograms undertaken for patients with sensori neural hearing loss. Mr. Ballantyne, British Association of Otolaryngologists. 183 120 Study of factors of auditory discrimination. Mr. J. Martin, Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital. 17,729 21,894 Post Aural Hearing Aids Mr. M. C. Martin, Royal National Institute for the Deaf. 6,577 6,699 Study of speech audiometry National Physical Laboratory 3,716 129 Audiometry research Mr. Bennett, Brunei University 1,347 3,743 Use of hearing aids by patients Mr. Brooks, Manchester Audiology Clinic. Nil 500 Evoked response audiometry and electro-cochleography. Mr. Topham and Mr. May, Sussex Throat and Ear Hospital. Nil 5,500 Study of the usage of Medresco Hearing Aids. Dr. Knight, Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital. 3,577 Nil Note: In addition, two further awards have been made so far in the current year:
(a) in April 1976, Dr. Pearson, of the University of Exeter, commenced work on a study of hearing impaired adults. Costs are estimated at £16,000 over a two-year period;
(b) a special unit for the deaf with psychiatric problems is to be set up at Springfield Hospital, South-West Thames Regional Health Authority. Expenditure for the current financial year is estimated at £50,000 capital and £30,000 revenue.
660Wand 10 into the mobility allowance scheme.
While we cannot be certain of the number of disabled children who will benefit from mobility allowance, some independent estimates have suggested that it might eventually be as high as 30,000. On this basis, at the current level of £5 a week, the overall cost would be about £8 million.