§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the latest estimate of the number of (a) mentally handicapped and (b) mentally sick persons in England; and how these figures compare with those available at the time of compiling the report on "Better Services for the Mentally Handicapped" in 1971.
§ Sir George YoungThe total number of mentally handicapped people in England is not known and, particularly with regard to mild mental handicap, we are unlikely ever to obtain precise figures. Our current estimate of the number of mentally handicapped people in need of special services is between 2.9 and 3.4 per thousand of the population, depending on local factors. This compares with the figures of 2.9 per thousand used in the 1971 White Paper. Current estimates are derived from information about persons using special services, or who have been identified as being in need of them, contained in five mental handicap case registers. For a full discussion of these estimates I would refer the hon. Member to chapter 3 of the 1980 review of mental handicap services in England "Mental Handicap: Progress, Problems and Priorities", which is in the Library.
The 1971 While Paper did not deal with mental illness. "Better Services for the Mentally Ill" Cmnd. 6233, 424W published in 1975, suggested that because of changing conceptions of mental illness it was not practicable to give estimates for the number of mentally ill people in England at different times.