§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the number, at the latest convenient date, of disabled children, disabled adults under pension age and elderly people respectively (a) in local authority authority residential care, (b) in residential care provided by voluntary organisations supported by local authorities, (c) in private residential institutions and (d) in long-stay hospitals; and if he will distinguish where possible between provision for the physically handicapped, the mentally handicapped and the mentally ill.
§ Sir George YoungAvailable information about children in care and those in community homes does net show whether they are physically disabled. The latest392W particulars of their numbers and the various types of accommodation in which they are resident are given in the report, Children in Care in England and Wales March 1978 (HC 542) Session 1979–80. The latest figures on the number of physically disabled adults and elderly people in local authority, voluntary and private residential accommodation are shown in the Department's booklet, "The Statistics of Residential Accommodation for the Elderly and Physically Handicapped People" (RA/1979/1). The booklet "Homes and Hostels for the Mentally Ill and Mentally Handicapped" A/F79/11) gives details of children, adults and elderly people in both types of residential home. All these publications are available in the House of Commons Library.
Information on physically disabled children, adults and elderly people in long-stay hospitals is not collected in the form requested. NHS mental illness and mental handicap hospitals and units are not distinguished in terms of long stay; the numbers of residents in such accommodation in England at 31 December 1978 is given below—with the percentage resident for one year or more given in brackets:
Age Groups Mental Illness Hospitals and Units Under 16 years 722 (13) 16–64 years 36,660 (61) 65 years and over 40,830 (73)
Age Groups Mental Handicap Hospitals and Units Under 16 years 3,287 (80) 16–64 years 36,918 (95) 65 years and over 6,658 (98)
§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish a short leaflet for the International Year of Disabled People with estimates of the number of disabled people in the United Kingdom and the prevalence of different handicaps and the principal benefits and services provided to disabled people.
§ Mr. PrenticeThe Department will shortly be producing a revised edition of "Help for Handicapped People" which is a comprehensive guide to benefits and services. The best information available about the number of disabled people and the prevalence of different handicaps is to be found in "Handicapped and Impaired in Great Britain" by Amelia Harris (HMSO, 1971).
§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many unemployed disabled people are currently not required to register for employment; what action he is taking to ensure that severely disabled people with no realistic prospect of employment are not overlooked and thus denied the long-term supplementary benefit rate; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. PrenticeI regret that figures are not available on the number of unemployed disabled people not required to register. Supplementary benefit officers and disablement resettlement officers of the Manpower Services Commission are expected to liaise to identify unemployed disabled people with no realistic work prospects. Disabled people not required to register will benefit from the reduction in the qualifying period for the long-term scale rate from two to one years for those under pension age exempt from the registration condition.