§ Mrs. Wiseasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will take steps to ensure that provisions to help people on low incomes with optical charges are altered so that children who get National Health Service lenses in private frames cease to be treated less favourably than adults who do likewise.
§ Mr. MoyleI have no present plans to do so. All children who have NHS lenses in NHS children's frames already get their glasses free. The most popular frame in the adult range is also in the children's range and children aged 10 or over who 531W have NHS lenses fitted to other NHS frames from the adult range pay only the charge for frames. The great majority of children fall into one or other of these two groups, it is only parents who choose to pay for a private frame for their children who pay the ordinary NHS charges for lenses.