§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what assessment he intends to make of the extent to which his proposal to limit payments for elderly people in nursing homes to £138.60 a week will be adequate to cover the additional costs of nursing care over residential care.
§ Mr. NewtonWe have no firm evidence at present that the differential between the supplementary benefit board and lodging limit for nursing homes and that for residential homes is inadequate, but we have accepted the recommendation of the Social Security Advisory Committee that this issue merits further research. We are arranging for this to be undertaken, and will review the position when fuller information is available.