§ Ms. WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what advice he intends to give 16 and 17-yearolds who have left home but receive no income support about housing themselves from September onwards;
(2) how he proposes to determine the circumstances under which a 16 or 17-year-old may be justified in leaving home once income support has been withdrawn from under 18 year-olds.
§ Mr. Scott[holding answer 25 February 1988]: Regulations have yet to be prepared, but it is the Government's intention that 16 and 17-year-olds who are not required to be available for work—for example, the lone parent and the severely disabled—will be entitled to income support at all times. School leavers who have good reason for being away from home and who have registered for a job or a YTS place will be entitled to income support during the child benefit extension period—up to the end of the calendar year for summer school leavers and up to three months for others—whilst they are considering the job or youth training scheme opportunities that are available. The regulations will include those young people with no living parent or guardian, those who have recently been in local authority care, those placed away from home by a probation officer of social worker and those who cannot live at home because they would be threatened with physical or sexual abuse.
Those unemployed young people who wish to live away from home and who are not covered by the regulations will have no entitlement to income support unless the Secretary of State directs that, exceptionally, benefits should he paid on the ground of severe hardship. Someone who joins the 699W young training scheme will be able to receive income support, if appropriate, to supplement his training allowance.
§ Ms. WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) whether he proposes to make any exceptions to the withdrawal of income support for under 18-year-olds so that income support could be given to those resident in an approved scheme of rehabilitation, such as that provided by the Young Men's Christian Association; and if he will make a statement;
(2) how many 16 and 17-year-olds he expects to be both living away from home and unable to pay rental and accommodation charges in September; what that number will be for the constituency of Stoke-on-Trent, North; and what advice he will give to the Young Men's Christian Association to enable it to continue to accommodate 16 and 17-year-olds until September in the knowledge that they will no longer be able to pay the charges when income supplement is withdrawn in September.
§ Mr. Scott[holding answer 25 February 1988]: The Government do not intend to make any exceptions to its general rules on income support to cater specifically for 16 and 17-year-old residents of accommodation provided by the Young Men's Christian Association.
Some will be entitled to income support without time limit because they are incapable of work, whilst those who are fit for work, who are living away from home with good cause—for example, orphans and those who would be threatened with physical or sexual abuse—and who have
In-patients Out-patients Accident and emergency patients Day patients Day cases Hospital name and type Cost per in-patient per day Cost per case Cost per attendance Cost per new case Cost per attendance Cost per new case Cost per attendance Cost per new case Cost per attendance £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ Yorkshire region Acute (51 to 100 beds) 81.03 566.46 25.92 114.56 1n/a n/a 1n/a n/a 75.33 Mainly acute 79.98 710.46 27.04 122.46 20.03 28.50 37.21 1,314.36 38.72 Mainly long-stay 62.15 2— 33.34 175.80 10.50 21.87 19.21 535.68 63.25 Geriatric 41.85 2— 22.19 78.71 10.19 19.98 22.93 728.84 1n/a Mental illness 41.23 2— 27.24 182.85 8.36 17.24 17.90 1,713.48 1n/a Pontefract district Ackton Acute (51 to 100 beds) 55.79 1,498.89 20.98 130.84 1n/a n/a 1n/a n/a 1n/a Pentefract general infirmary Mainly acute 85.05 581.74 26.01 114.24 20.81 30.60 18.76 751.23 44.15 Castleford, Normanton and district Mainly long-stay 59.62 2— 19.89 82.36 8.68 18.60 16.54 353.74 36.00 Southmoor Geriatric 41.31 2— 1n/a n/a 1n/a n/a 31.01 854.56 1n/a Warde Aldam Mental illness 58.34 2— 9.29 33.66 8.36 17.24 1n/a n/a 1n/a 1 No patients of this type were treated during the year. 2 Average costs per in-patient case in respect of hospitals providing long-stay treatment are not routinely calculated.