§ Dr. Roger Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Wales what projects are supported by the Welsh Office to increase the awareness of the dangers of accidents to the elderly; and what advice is being given to local authority housing departments on houses built specially for the elderly who suffer from limited mobility and lower mental alertness.
§ Mr. Wyn RobertsThe Welsh Office gives financial support to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, which includes within its programme education training and publicity designed to reduce the number of road traffic accidents involving the elderly. We have also recently agreed to make funds available this year for a research project on "the disabled in the Welsh environment" to include an assessment of the hazards encountered by the less mobile elderly in and around their own homes.
The Department has in the past issued advice to local authorities on the design of housing for disabled persons. However, the system of project control introduced in April 1981 makes individual local authorities responsible for the selection, standards, design and costs of their own schemes.