§ Mr. Christopher Priceasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will list in the Official Reportthose local authorities that do not provide (a) day care places directly for the mentally ill and (b) any direct residential provision;
(2) if he will take steps to ensure that local authorities meet the guideline figures on day care and residential places for the mentally ill;
(3) if he will list in the Official Report which local authorities have now met the minimum requirements for (a) day care and (b) residential care for the mentally ill;
(4) if he will list in the Official Report those local authorities whose rate of growth in the provision of daycare facilities for the mentally ill he regards as unsatisfactory.
§ Sir George YoungThe latest date for which we have national data available from statistical returns made by local authorities about their provision for the mentally ill is 31 March 1980. These show that 39 authorities provided no day centres directly in which places were specifically designated for use by the mentally ill; 26 of these authorities, however, are shown as providing day centres in which places were not allocated to any particular client group and some of these places may be used for the mentally ill, but such information is not available centrally. Nine authorities provided no direct residential provision. A list of authorities referred to above is in table I.
The list at A of table I includes some authorities which have given care and funds to the development of these services, but have chosen to work through voluntary bodies, both by giving grants for the development of new services and by funding individuals who make use of these. I welcome such collaboration between statutory and voluntary services.
By minimum requirements for day and residential care for the mentally ill, I assume that the hon. Member is referring to the guidelines for these services discussed in the White Paper "Better Services for the Mentally Ill"—Cmnd. 6233, chapter IV. The White Paper made it clear that they were provisional and general in character and that
the level of local need can only be fully determined in the context of the individual locality".In addition, the Department's current review of day care suggests that the day centre place guideline should be used with caution, since day centres may be used to 403W support clients in different ways so that the number of places at a day centre gives no indication of the number of clients receiving support from it. There is some evidence to suggest that the combined guidelines for day hospital and day centre places may be too high and that the White Paper figure more nearly represents the number of people to be supported at any one time rather than the number of places required. The Department's review is continuing and it is hoped to pubish shortly a report of a study of the growing use of adapted premises as day centres for the mentally ill.
In March 1980, 35 authorities had reached the guideline figure for residential provision in areas of "average need", that is 19 places per 100,000 population, and five authorities had reached the guideline figure for day care places, that is 60 places per 100,000 population; they are listed in table II. In each case the list takes account of all places shown in the authority's return, whether provided directly by the authority or made available by voluntary and other organisations and other local authorities.
It has always been expected that progress towards these guideline figures would take a considerable period of time. It would be difficult to differentiate between authorities with a satisfactory rate of growth in provision and those without, since much will depend on specific local circumstances and priorities. I hope progress will be assisted by imaginative use locally of joint financing, funds for which continue to grow. In addition I hope to issue shortly a consultative document which will seek views on additional ways of transferring resources to the personal social services to provide for people who would be better cared for outside hospital.
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Table I—Local Authorities* with no Direct Day Care or Residential Provision at 31 March 1980 Day Care Residential Provision‡ A With places Greenwich† City of London available in City of London Dudley voluntary and Kent Isle of Wight private provision or Merton† Kensington and Chelsea made available by Kingston upon Thames†† other local Northamptonshire† Lambeth authorities Redbridge† Tower Hamlets** Westminster Waltham Forest Warwickshire‡ B With no places Barnsley† Tameside Bedfordshire† Bromley† Buckinghamshire† Bury† Calderdale† Doncaster† Dudley Durham† Enfield† Gloucestershire Hertfordshire† Lancashire† Northumberland† Oldham† Oxfordshire† Rochdale† Rotherham† St. Helens Sandwell† Sefton† Solihull Somerset† Stockport Suffolk
Day Care Residential Provision‡ Sutton‡ Tameside Trafford Wakefield Walsall West Sussex‡ * Excluding the Isles of Scilly. † These authorities do have day centre places which are not allocated to particular client groups. Information on the use of these places for the mentally ill is not available from the statistical returns. (It should be noted that the collection of day care statistics in 1980 differed in detail from that previously used and it is therefore not possible to reconcile the figures with earlier years.) ‡ The tables do not allow for residential places in group homes managed by voluntary associations if these are not included in local authorities returns. ** 1978 figures only available. †† 1979 figures only available. Table II——Local Authorities* which had reached the Guideline Figures for Residential and Day Care Provision at 31 March 1980
Residential Provision†
- Barnet
- Brent
- Camden
- City of London
- Croydon‡
- Dorset
- Ealing
- East Sussex
- Greenwich
- Hackney
- Hammersmith
- Haringey
- Harrow
- Havering
- Hillingdon
- Hounslow
- Kensington and Chelsea
- Kent
- Lambeth
- Lewisham
- Liverpool
- Manchester
- Merton‡
- Newcastle-upon-Tyne
- Newham
- Northamptonshire
- Richmond upon Thames
- Salford
- Somerset
- Southwark
- Sutton
- Tower Hamlets¶
- Wandsworth
- Westminster
Day Care
- Newham
- Tower Hamlets
- Islington
- Lewisham
- Southwark
* Excluding the Isles of Scilly.
† The tables do not allow for residential places in group homes managed by voluntary associations if these are not included in local authorities' returns.
‡1979 figures only available.
¶ 1978 figures only available.