§ Mrs. Wiseasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many disabled women with children at present have 430W asked for in the last part of the hon. Member's Question is not available.
§ Mr Biggs-Davisonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many abortions have taken place at more than 20 weeks' gestation since the Abortion Act came into force; and on what grounds these were performed; how many abortions took place at more than 20 weeks' gestation in 1975 and 1976, respectively; and on what grounds these were performed.
§ Mr. MoyleAvailable figures are as follows:
vehicles provided through his Department; and what effect his policies will have on future provision for disabled mothers.
§ Mr. Alfred MorrisThe number of women with children among the 21,000 holders of invalid tricycles is not available. About 1,400 disabled women hold four-wheeled cars issued to them under the old vehicle scheme, instead of a tricycle, because they had sole charge of a child under 14. Under the new scheme, disabled mothers who are within the age groups which have been phased in can now establish their entitlement to the mobility allowance, whether or not they are drivers, and so can disabled children. I know my hon. Friend will be pleased to learn that we are now spending far more on mobility help for disabled mothers and children than ever before.
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§ Mrs. Wiseasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what provisions he will make for disabled people who at present drive an invalid tricycle to get to hospital for regular treatments or checks, after he has phased out the invalid tricycle.
§ Mr. Alfred MorrisFor the drivers of tricycles issued under the pre-1976 vehicle scheme we expect to be able to provide not only spares but replacement tricycles as they wear out, at least up to 1981. If they so wish, they will also have the alternative choice of the mobility allowance regardless of age limit and without further medical test. The Government accept that whatever further increase in the mobility allowance may be possible, there will be people who will still need a specialised vehicle when their tricycles can no longer be replaced. As my right hon. Friend has made clear to the House, the Government will be looking at what is available on home and world markets to help such people. In addition to these arrangements for personal transport, ambulance authorities have a duty to arrange for patients to be transported to and from hospital where this is medically necessary.
§ Mrs. Wiseasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what effect he expects the phasing out of the invalid tricycle to have on enrolments for Hereward College of Further Education for Disabled People, in Coventry, South-West constituency.
§ Mr. Alfred MorrisIt should not have any significant effect. I understand that nearly all the students are resident, and local education authorities provide transport as necessary between home and college. Only a minority of the students have tricycles at present, and I have indicated in another reply to my hon. Friend today the Government's intentions to safeguard their position. In future the mobility allowance, payable from the age of 5 onwards, should help more potential students to choose the form of mobility help best suited to their individual needs. The vehicle scheme gave no mobility help to people too young to drive, and we are now spending very much more on mobility help for disabled young people than ever before.
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§ Mrs. Wiseasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he has made any estimate of the number of disabled people who will have to cease employment when he has phased out the invalid tricycle, and of the probable loss of taxation revenue which will result.
§ Mr. Alfred MorrisIt can be strongly argued that, far from reducing employment opportunities for disabled people, the present mobility scheme will substantially increase them. As I have explained to my hon. Friend in another reply today, for the drivers of tricycles issued under the pre-1976 vehicle scheme we expect to be able to provide not only spares, but replacement tricycles as they wear out at least up to 1981. Moreover, a disabled person who was given a tricycle for employment purposes now no longer risks losing all mobility help if he loses his job. This is an important step forward and will help many disabled people in seeking further employment. Under new legislation which the Government have introduced, it will be open to "old scheme" tricycle holders to switch to the mobility allowance. The allowance is already bringing mobility help to some 30,000 new beneficiaries and will be helping many of them to obtain employment or to continue in their present jobs. Apart from this, the travel-to-work scheme run by the Employment Service Agency can provide additional help to registered disabled people, whether beneficiaries of the mobility allowance or not, who are too disabled to use public transport and who, if not helped under the scheme, would suffer undue financial hardship through the cost of travelling to work. Again, we have made it clear that we shall be looking on home and world markets for specialised vehicles for those who still need them when their tricycles can no longer be replaced. As my right hon. Friend has made clear in a letter to disabled drivers, our aim is to make sure that no one who is now mobile is made immobile by the phasing-out of the tricycle.
§ Mr. Cyril Smithasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he has any estimate of the number of persons denied an invalidity vehicle between December 1975 and December 1976 who are now entitled to receive the mobility allowance.
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§ Mr. Alfred MorrisInvalid tricycles were available until the end of July 1976 for people who were found eligible for mobility allowance and opted for a tricycle instead or who were not in an age-group reached by the mobility allowance phasing-in programme but were likely to be medicaly eligible for the allowance. The latter group are still able to get a tricycle for the first time. The number of people awarded mobility allowance since July who would have preferred a tricycle is not known. Nearly 38,000 awards of mobility allowance have now been made. The hon. Member may like to know that the numbers of invalid tricycles issued to new applicants in the years immediately before 1976 were between 2,500 and 3,000. He will, however, appreciate that the mobility allowance was not then available as an alternative to the invalid tricycle.
§ Mr. Spriggsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will investigate the reason why Ross Auto Engineering is unable to obtain spare parts for the Department's three-wheel invalid car within six months; how many disabled people resident in St. Helens, and the North West in general, lose their machines for long periods awaiting repairs; and what steps he is taking to improve the situation;
(2) if he will make a statement on the availability of spare parts for the three-wheel car issued by his Department, to date; and what arrangements are made to continue a spare-part service to cover the life expectancy of existing three-wheel vehicles.
§ Mr. Alfred MorrisA delay of this order would be a rare occurrence and if my hon. Friend has a particular case in mind I shall be glad to have it thoroughly investigated. Some parts are bought in by approved repairers themselves but the majority—over 2,100 items—are held in the Department's central store. Despite unpredictable fluctuations of demand and delivery delays on the part of suppliers and transport agents, only five of the items stocked by the Department are temporarily in short supply at present and this is being rectified. It will never be possible without wasteful overstocking to ensure that every item is immediately available but this is no reason to fear abnormal difficulty. When434W a vehicle has to be taken off the road for repairs the usual practice is to replace it either temporarily or permanently. My Department is currently discussing with suppliers future purchases of spare parts to ensure adequate supplies for the future.