§ Mr. Sproatasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether the cases of alleged abuse submitted by the hon. Member for Aberdeen, South which were 401W investigated by special investigators of his Department, were given priority over cases already in the files of those special investigators; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. OrmeI thought it right to give these cases some priority in view of the publicity given to the hon. Member's assertions about widespread abuse, and the concern which these aroused. Investigators were, therefore, asked to deal with the hon. Member's allegations as promptly as possible but otherwise to handle them in exactly the same way as similar allegations of fraud from other sources.
However, as I said in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Oldham, East (Mr. Lamond) on 17th February—[Vol. 926, c. 303–306.]—the time taken up by out investigators by this work produced only one-tenth of the positive results that might have been expected if the investigators had been left free to carry out their normal duties.