§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what advice he has received about the application of criteria to the determination of need in relation to Section 2 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Alfred MorrisI am advised that the adoption by local authorities of criteria of entitlement for the guidance of staff does not affect their legal obligation to consider on its merits the application of each disabled person for a service under Section 2. Need must be determined in each individual case, and an application616W should not be rejected solely on the grounds that it does not meet an authority's criteria. Such criteria can be varied because they are purely for administrative guidance, but criteria cannot be used as if they comprised a legal definition of need or as if they themselves were statutory provisions.
I am further advised that services given under Section 2 may not be withdrawn in the absence of a reduction of need. Thus any authority which sought, for example, to withdraw a telephone provided under the Act, solely on the grounds of financial expediency, would not be meeting the requirements of the law.