§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Social Services, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Perry Barr (Mr. Rooker) on 27 October (a) what information is no longer collected on registers of the blind SSDA 902, (b) what information is no longer collected about adult day centres SSDA 512, (c) who now analyses the nutrition surveys and if this information is given to his Department, (d) why he considers it no longer necessary to establish the uptake of supplementary benefit and welfare foods, and the numbers with incomes below or within a given percentage of the supplementary benefit level, (e) how he intends to acquire information about the number of vacant posts in the community dental service, and (f) when the 418W information contained in the abandoned Department's annual report will now be available.
§ Mr. Patrick JenkinThe information requested is as follows:
- (a) The information no longer collected about registers of the blind on return SSDA 902 is the place of residence of blind children aged under live years, and the numbers of registered blind persons aged 16 years and over in various homes and hospitals. Less detailed statistics about registered blind persons will continue.
- (b) The information no longer collected about adult day centres on return SSDA 512 is the breakdown of the numbers of places available at adult training centres by category of client (mentally handicapped, severely mentally handicapped, other); the breakdown of the number of places available in day centres by client group; and the number of persons regularly attending day centres.
- (c) The professional analysis of nutrition surveys, formerly undertaken by the statistics division of the Department is now being carried out with the help of a statistician from the Department of Community Medicine at St. Thomas's hospital medical school. The resulting analyses are freely available to the Department.
- (d) The reasons that changes have been made to the production of statistical information concerning incomes relative to supplementary benefit levels and the take-up were explained in my reply to the hon. Member for Walsall, North (Mr. Winnick) on 13 November and my hon. Friend's reply to the hon. Member on 11 July.
- (e) Experience has shown that information about vacancies in the Community Dental Service is not required centrally.
- (f) The information that was previously published in the Department's annual report has appeared, or is expected in future to appear, in Social Security Statistics, Health and Personal Social Services Statistics, other government publications, communications with health or local authorities, or will be made available on request. The Department's statistical services are at present under review, and the results of this review may affect the availability or publication of this information in the longer term. [Vol. 973, c. 565–66; Vol. 988, c. 347.]