§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what further progress is being made with his Department's feasibility study of a new prevalence survey of disability in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. NewtonAs my right hon. Friend told the House in his statement about social security reviews on 2 April, we have decided to proceed from the feasibility work already under way to a full scale survey of the extent of disablement in the population. The feasibility work, being carried out by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys in conjunction with the Department, is currently directed towards devising and testing a questionnaire which will enable the OPCS to identify a sample of disabled people from the general population. It is expected that the detailed interviewing of the disabled people identified will start in the summer of 1985.