§ Mr. Watkinsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many mentally handicapped persons there are in Gloucestershire; and how many were there in 1975, 1974, 1973 and 1972, respectively;
(2) how many mentally handicapped persons there are in the United Kingdom at present; and how many there were in 1975, 1974, 1973 and 1972, respectively.
§ Mr. MoyleIt is very difficult to estimate the prevalence of mental handicap because most mildly mentally handicapped people and many of those with more severe handicap do not use the available statutory or voluntary services and are unrecorded. From surveys carried out in different parts of the country, it has been estimated that there may be about 120,000 severely mentally handicapped people in England and Wales, over 6,000 in Northern Ireland and about 19,000 in Scotland. The number of mildly mentally handicapped people in much greater. It would be unwise to deduce figures for individual areas from these national estimates because of local variables.
§ Mr. Watkinsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many residential centres there are for mentally handicapped persons in Gloucestershire; and if he will name them.
§ Mr. MoyleGloucestershire County Council has the following four hostels for the mentally handicapped:
- Merrowdown, Lansdown Road, Cheltenham
- Eilden, Lansdown Road, Cheltenham.
- Long House, 2 Whitehouse Park, Cairns Cross, Stroud.
- St. Oswald's, Archdeacon Street, Gloucester.