§ Mr. Hannamasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether the consultation period on the Oglesby report on mobility allowance and attendance allowance schemes has finished; how many representations he has received; of these representations which were (a) in favour of the proposals in the report and (b) against the proposals; and what action the Government propose to take on the report.
§ Mr. NewtonThe consultation period, which we extended twice, ended on 29 February. Representations have been received from 36 organisations, and I appreciate the care that has been given to producing constructive and detailed comments on the report's wide range of recommendations. Very few have been either wholly in favour of or wholly against the proposals. Nearly all have welcomed the report. As I said in answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Sir H. Rossi) on 26 January, at column648, we have already acted on two recommendations to speed up action on claims to these benefits. We are considering what action to take on the remainder in the light of the comments we have received.