§ Mr. Andrew Bowdenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will consider making locks and chains for doors items for which single payments may be made to supplementary pensioners.
§ Dr. BoysonI have much sympathy with claimants who feel insecure in their homes, and I understand that the police are able to offer advice to pensioners on relatively inexpensive security devices. I have, however, no plans
Number of Persons on In-patient Waiting List on 30 September Region—Northern Regional Health Authority Area Health Authority 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 Cleveland 7,258 7,889 7,530 8,262 11,409 8,958 8,572 Cumbria 3,324 3,710 3,987 4,619 5,221 4,579 4,462 Durham 4,916 5,650 5,662 5,725 5,813 4,189 4,333 Northumberland 922 1,183 1,367 1,509 1,585 1,453 1,470 Gateshead 1,688 1,751 1,775 1,720 1,763 1,091 937 Newcastle-upon-Tyne 7,939 8,179 8,360 8,580 9,420 9,487 8,468 North Tyneside 1,596 1,642 1,019 1,070 1,100 704 680 South Tyneside 644 699 567 741 1,101 761 480 Sunderland 4,148 3,661 3,392 3,451 4,876 4,316 3,703 REGIONAL TOTAL 32,435 34,364 33,659 35,677 42,288 35,538 33,105 49,958
Region—Yorkshire Regional Health Authority Area Health Authority 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 Humberside 8,628 9,944 10,601 11,238 14,358 13,033 11,557 North Yorkshire 5,967 6,645 6,282 6,923 7,393 5,920 5,080 Bradford 3,258 3,527 4,073 4,652 6,345 5,865 5,945 Calderdale 1,999 2,809 2,400 1,970 1,678 1,322 1,083 Kirklees 2,538 2,414 3,039 3,554 4,489 3,137 2,833 Leeds 7,731 5,656 7,058 7,409 7,905 7,699 7,723 Wakefield 2,756 3,694 3,712 4,157 5,055 4,006 3,480 Regional Total 32,877 34,689 37,165 39,903 47,223 40,982 37,701 53,033
114W
Region—Trent Regional Health Authority Area Health Authority 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 Derbyshire 3,986 5,864 7,281 8,432 9,933 8,398 7,908 Leicestershire 6,376 7,374 7,660 8,986 9,864 7,440 6,736 Lincolnshire 9,375 9,754 9,522 8,791 9,176 7,870 7,430 Nottinghamshire 11,371 11,460 11,095 13,448 14,542 14,292 15,203 Barnsley 1,915 2,249 2,622 3,107 4,000 3,269 2,648 Doncaster 3,700 3,562 3,731 4,463 4,724 3,630 3,043 Rotherham 2,302 2,536 2,013 2,600 2,982 2,323 2,603 Sheffield 7,842 8,086 8,230 8,689 11,277 10,673 11,280 Regional Total 46,867 50,885 52,154 58,516 66,498 57,895 56,851 73,509 for making such devices items for which supplementary benefits single payments can be made. Quite apart from the question of cost, and the difficulty of establishing workable criteria for making such payments, I do not think it would be fair to provide items through the supplementary benefits scheme which other low income groups have to provide out of their savings or have to do without.