§ Mr. Dobsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services why he has not sought to make "Home Life—A Code of Priorities for Residential Care" binding on local authorities.
§ Mr. WhitneyIt would not be appropriate to make binding the provisions of a code that was drafted in advisory terms and dealt with matters on which discretionary judgments had to be made. However, my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Social Services and for Wales, in their foreword to the published code, asked local authorities to regard it in the same light as general guidance issued under section 7 of the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970.