HC Deb 13 April 1988 vol 131 cc187-8W
Mr. Gould

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he has made any assessment of the effects on the discharge of long-stay mental hospital patients under the care in the community programme by the withholding of higher level supplementary benefit from such patients.

Mrs. Currie

[holding answer 15 March 1988]: The income support that will be available to patients discharged from a mental illness or mental handicap hospital after a long stay, subsequent to 11 April, will depend on their individual needs and situation. Some will qualify for the disability premium, and some for the severe disability premium. We do not have information about the individual situations of people who may be discharged from long-stay in-patient care in the near future.