§ Lord Molloyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will provide statistics for the number of adults and children who have speech or language disorders.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Security (Lord Glenarthur)Information about the number of people who have speech or language disorders is not available. In 1981, the latest year for which we have information, about 225,000 attendances by in-patients and 445,000 attendances by out-patients were recorded at speech therapy departments at National Health Service hospitals in England: 23,000 in-patients and 27,000 out-patients started their courses of treatment in these departments during 1981. Information on the ages of people receiving these treatments is not1180WA available centrally, nor is information available centrally on the number treated by speech therapists in the community.