§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will list those agencies and non-hospital projects working in the field of alcoholic rehabilitation which are wholly or partly funded by the Department; what is the amount of grant in each case; and if he will indicate the level of funding in each case proposed for the next financial year
(2) what is the amount of grants paid by his Department to voluntary organisations which provide hostels for homeless people with a drinking problem for each year since 1974; how much is proposed for 1980–81; if he is satisfied with the level of his Department's support to such voluntary organisations; and what is his estimate of the number of people who suffer from a drinking problem.
§ Sir George YoungThe grants given in 1978–79 to voluntary agencies concerned with alcoholic rehabilitation were:
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GRANTS TOWARDS THE SETTING UP AND RUNNING OF HOSTELS £ Alcoholics Recovery Project 24,312 Allen House Trust, Bognor Regis 5,388 Aquarius 27,795 Avon Council on Alcoholism 12,382 Birmingham Diocesan Council for Social Aid 9,882 Bow Mission 32,201 Camden Alcoholics Support Association 28,258 Church Army (final claim not yet received) — Coventry Cyrenians 3,673 Devon Council on Alcoholism 6,752 Hostel, Maidstone Council of Churches 2,903 Hampshire Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders 7,040 Hastings Hostel Ltd., Leicester 9,894 Helping Hand Organisation 74,845 Homeless Action and Accommodation Ltd 3,885 Oxford and District Council on Alcoholism 8,063 Petrus Community 20,005 Royal London Aid Society 9,400 Salvation Army 30,075 St. Anne's Shelter and Housing Action Ltd., Leeds 30,664
£ Society of St. Dismas, Southampton 19,365 Scunthorpe Committee on Alcoholism 1,639 South East London Consortium 26,000 Spelthorne St. Mary, Harpenden 4,540 Spitalfields Crypt Association 18,179 Stonham Housing Association 14,834 Thamesdown and North Wiltshire Council on Alcoholism 8,344 Wayback Foundation, Plymouth 7,472 West London Cyrenians 1,808 Westminster Advisory Centre on Alcoholism 125 OTHER £ Alcohol Education Centre 50,000 Alcoholic Recovery Project 11,000 Aquarius Resource Centre 14,219 Federation of Alcoholic Rehabilitation Establishments 46,265 Helping Hand Organisation 24,300 Helping Hand Organisation/Bedford Advice Centre 10,400 Medical Council on Alcoholism 14,450 National Council on Alcoholism 147,000 Norfolk Council on Alcoholism 24,000 South-East London Consortium 13,000 St. Botolph's 3,500 The total grants paid to voluntary organisations to provide hostels for alcoholics, including homeless alcoholics, since April 1974 are as follows:
Capital Revenue Total £ £ £ 1974–75 132,505 88,035 220,540 1975–76 199,903 102,934 302,837 1976–77 270,883 188,033 458,916 1977–78 205,060 263,219 468,279 1978–79 145,524 318,116 463,640 1979–80* 150,000 350,000 500,000 Totals 1,103,875 1,310,337 2,414,212 * Estimated. The level of grants for all voluntary organisations in this field for 1980–81 will be settled in the light of their applications taking account of resources available.
The level of the Department's support is exceptional as the Department does not normally fund local projects. The amount has depended on the number of schemes proposed by voluntary organisations for which local authorities have given an undertaking that after five years the organisations if successful could look to them for any financial support needed to enable the hostel to continue. I refer the hon. Member to my reply of 31 October 1979 to my hon. Friend the Member for Aldridge-Brownhills (Mr. Shepherd) for the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys' recent estimate of 271W the number of alcoholics in the United Kingdom.—[Vol 972. c. 559.]