§ Mr. Matesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many registered disabled people there were in the United Kingdom at the latest convenient date; what direct Exchequer expenditure has been allotted to the registered disabled; and whether this figure can be broken down into convenient categories.
§ Mr. Alfred MorrisAt 31st March 1977, there were 982,000 people on local authority registers of disabled people in England and Wales and at 31st December 1976 there were 14,000 disabled people registered in Northern Ireland. In Scotland, registers of disabled people are not kept, but at 31st March 1976 there were716W 30,000 disabled people in receipt of services from social work departments. As regards expenditure, I assume that the hon. Gentleman is referring to services and benefits provided by my Department directly to disabled people. Provision is not normally dependent on registration and therefore expenditure is not allotted on this basis. However £36.171 million was directly spent by my Department during the financial year 1976–77 as follows:
£ million Hearing aids 5.294 Artificial limbs 11.402 Surgical boots 0.311 Possum 0.313 Vehicles 12.203 Wheelchairs 4.529 Car maintenance and Private car allowance 2.119 36.171 The table below shows public expenditure on social security benefits which are by their nature paid because of chronic sickness or disablement.
ESTIMATED OUTTURN 1977–78 OF SOCIAL SECURITY PAYMENTS TO HELP DISABLED PEOPLE £ million Invalidity Benefit 683 Attendance Allowance 168 Invalid Care Allowance 4 Industrial Disablement Benefit 194 Injury Benefit 50 Non-Contributory Invalidity Pension 42 Non-Contributory Invalidity Pension for married women 9 Mobility Allowance 19 War Disablement Pensions 205 Supplementary Allowance—sick and Disabled over six months 115 Total 1,489