§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) which local authorities' rate of growth in the provision of day centre facilities for mentally ill adults he regards as unsatisfactory;
(2) if he will list those local authorities he has urged to give priority to the mentally ill.
§ Mr. MoyleI have made clear the priority which I attach to the improvement of services for the mentally ill to local authorities generally, in a number of contexts and in particular in the series of priorities documents, "The Way Forward", HMSO (1977) and "DHSS Planning Guidelines 1978/79" (LAC(78)6).
There can be no clear dividing line between authorities with a satisfactory rate of growth in day centre provision and those without. Much will depend on local circumstances including the adequacy of existing provision. But, over the country as a whole, the rate of growth has so far been below that envisaged in the priorities documents, and there are wide variations from authority to authrity in the amount of provision which already exists. I am particularly concerned that according to my information 20 authorities had no day-care provision specifically for the mentally ill in March 1978; 10 of these did show day centre places available which are not allocated to a specific client group; but information available centrally does not show if these are used by the mentally ill. I am seeking information about the current position in these 20 authorities and will write to my hon. Friend when I have considered their replies.
§ Mr. Moonmanasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is his policy for the encouragement of the 275W growth of local authority provision for day care of the mentally ill.
§ Mr. MoyleThe planning guidelines issued by my Department in March 1978 asked local authorities to place more emphasis in the next few years on day care for the mentally ill. Arrangements for joint financing of community social service schemes are particularly relevant to the development of services for the mentally ill, including day care.
One obstacle to progress may be a lack of a clear conception of what authorities should be trying to do in the relatively new field of day care for the mentally ill. With this in mind, my Department held a seminar on the subject in November, including participants from social services departments, the NHS and voluntary organisations. The seminar produced some useful ideas, and
Aids Adaptations Telephones £ £ £ Walsall … … … 48 28 30 West Midlands Metropolitan Districts … … … 58 66 53 London Boroughs … … … 124 117 148 All Metropolitan Districts … … … 74 91 67 England and Wales … … … 69 71 65 These figures are of net expenditure per 1,000 population by local authority social services departments. They include loan charges, but exclude administration and training costs which cannot be separately identified for these services.