§ Mr. David Priceasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if, in view of its proven skills in ergonomics, physiology, light structures and in co-operating with manufacturing industry, he will place a development contract with the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, to produce a replacement vehicle for the now redundant invalid tricycle;
(2) what steps he is taking to provide a replacement fo the invalid tricycle, consequential upon the Government's decision in July 1976 to withdraw this vehicle gradually; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Alfred MorrisFinancial help in the form of mobility allowance has now superseded the old NHS vehicle scheme as the main mobility benefit provided by my Department for disabled people. We have made a commitment to people who are still using three-wheelers issued under the old scheme. My right hon. Friend has made it categorically clear that they will not be immobilised in consequence of the phasing out of the three-wheeler except, of course, in cases where increased disability itself makes this inevitable.
580WTo this end, we have commissioned a report from the Motor Industry Research Association (MIRA) on the technical problems of meeting the future mobility needs of existing drivers of three-wheelers. Until we have this information, we are not in a position to say how best these needs can be met when the three-wheeler can no longer be replaced. This will not be until 1983 at the earliest, however, and probably not for some time alter that.
The MIRA report is expected before very long and meanwhile it is too soon to know what further development work may be necessary.
§ Mr. David Priceasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many invalid tricycles, issued by his Department, are still being driven by disabled people; of these, how many are one year, two year, three year, four years' old, or over respectively.
§ Mr. Alfred MorrisAt 31 January 1979 there were approximately 14,100 three-wheeler users in England. The following table shows the date of manufacture of the vehicles:
APPROXIMATE NUMBER USING VEHICLES MANUFACTURED IN 1978 50 1977 1,400 1976 1,750 1975 2,500 Earlier than 1975 8,400 In addition to a reserve fleet of just over 1,900 vehicles kept by local repairers for temporary loan, the Department currently has a stock of some 1,500 vehicles available for issue as permanent replacements. This stock is supplemented continuously by reusable vehicles given up for a variety of reasons.
§ Mr. David Priceasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what steps he is taking to ensure that there is an adequate supply of spare parts for the existing users of invalid tricycles, consequential upon the Government's decision in July 1976 to phase out the use of such tricycles over the next five years.
§ Mr. Alfred MorrisMy Department negotiates as necessary with its suppliers to ensure the continuing availability of parts throughout the phasing-out period for the three-wheeler. We do not anticipate any insurmountable difficulties in this connection.