§ Ms. Harmanasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many private residential homes for the elderly in Lancashire were deregistered in each of the years 1979 to 1985.
§ Mr. Tony Banksasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many private residential nursing homes for the elderly in the Greater London area have been de-registered in each year since 1979;
(2) how many staff were employed by his Department for monitoring the de-registrations of private residential nursing homes for the elderly, in each of the years 1981, 1982, 1983 and 1984.
§ Mr. John PattenPrior to 1 January 1985 this information was not held centrally. Since that date we have received no notifications of cancelled registrations in Lancashire or the Greater London area.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services, for each year since 1978, how many homes have been registered (a) as nursing homes, (b) as residential care homes and (c) dually as both nursing and residential care homes; and in each case how many homes are run by (i) voluntary organisations and (ii) private proprietors.
§ Mr. John PattenThe number of homes registered under the Residential Homes Act 1980 and under the Nursing Homes Act 1975 was as follows:
Residential Homes Act 1980 Nursing Homes Act 1975 Number of Homes 31 March Voluntary Private 31 December Number of Homes 1978 1,200 2,067 1978 1,111 1979 1,226 2,190 1979 N/A 1980 1,274 2,425 1980 1,135 1981(30 1981 1,283 2,653 June) 1,132 1982 1,322 2,989 1982 1,214 1983 1,414 3,558 1983 1,316 *1984 1,459 14,315 1984 N/A *Provisional. N/A not available. Until the Registered Homes Act 1984 was implemented on 1 January 1985 homes registered as nursing homes were excluded from registration as residential homes. It is not possible to differentiate between types of nursing homes.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what representations he has received on how residential and nursing homes will be affected by the Supplementary Benefit (Requirements and Resources) Miscellaneous Provisions Regulations 1985; and if he will make a statement.
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§ Mr. WhitneyWe have received a number of representations on the possible effects of the Supplementary Benefit (Requirements and Resources) Miscellaneous Provisions Regulations 1985 on residential care and nursing homes. These have come from hon. Members and from individuals and organisations representing residential care and nursing home interests. We are monitoring closely the impact of the regulations and will take appropriate account of the representations received as part of that process.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he has received complaints that some local authorities are failing to accept responsibility for making assessments for residential or nursing home care.
§ Mr. John PattenLocal authority social services departments would normally assess applicants only for places in their own residential homes or for places provided by them under arrangements made with voluntary or privately run residential care homes. It would be for district health authorities to do likewise for patients placed in nursing homes under contractual arrangement. We have received no complaints about local authorities failing to make such assessments, but we are aware of concern about assessment of clients otherwise supported from public funds in residential care homes. A joint working party with the local authority associations has been considering what scope there is for improving collaboration between the Department and local authorities over assessment of need and in ensuring that charges met from public funds are reasonable and represent value for money. The working party's report is being considered by us and the associations and we shall be discussing it with them in due course.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services, for each year since 1978, what financial support each local authority has given to (a) residents in residential homes, (b) day-care centres and (c) topping up payments.
§ Mr. John PattenInformation relating to total and net spending by each local social services authority on residential care and day centres is published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy in its annual volumes "Personal Social Services Statistics: Actuals", copies of which are in the Library. These cover years up to 1983–84; figures for 1984–85 are not yet available. Under the supplementary benefit regulations, local authority topping up of supplementary benefit support for people in private and voluntary homes has been possible only since 29 April 1985.
§ Mr. Tony Banksasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many (a) private, (b) voluntary and (c) public residential homes for the elderly there were in London in each of the last five years.
§ Mr. John PattenInformation on the numbers of homes for the elderly and disabled in Greater London is given in the table:
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Number of Homes As at 31 March Statutory Voluntary Private Total 1979 334 212 179 725 1980 333 208 183 724 1981 336 218 185 739
As at 31 March Statutory Voluntary Private Total 1982 336 212 198 746 1983 332 210 224 766 1984 333 211 251 795 Information as at 31 March 1985 is not yet available.