§ Mr. Pawseyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services which Ministers from his Department, and which civil servants, have visited Hungary since 1979 to study conductive education; at what cost; for how long the visit lasted; what was the itinerary of the visit; what were the findings; if he will place details of the outcome of the visit in the Library; and what discussions took place subsequent to the visit with (a) the Spastics Society or (b) any other body on the findings.
§ Mr. WhitneyDuring an official visit to Hungary in November 1984, at the invitation of the Hungarian 163W Minister of Health, my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (Mr. Clarke), the then Minister for Health, visited the Peto Educational and Training Institute for children with motor disorders in Budapest as part of a programme of visits to various health establishments in Hungary. He was very impressed by the training programmes being undertaken to help motor and neurologically impaired children. No officials from this Department have visited Hungary since 1979 to study conductive education. Since my right hon. and learned Friend's visit however officials have had discussions with the Spastics Society and the Parkinsons Disease Society about conductive education. They have also met the district physiotherapist of Barnet health authority and a member of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists, who gave details of their visits to the Peto Institute. Officials from this Department and the Department of Education and Science will shortly be discussing with the Spastics Society its application for funding in respect of a study of current provision and an evaluation of the implications of wider development of the system in this country.