§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what action he will take to improve the provisions for the special needs of members of ethnic minority groups in residential care.
§ Mrs. Currie[holding answer 28 April 1988]: The Department's Social Services Inspectorate examined aspects of services for ethnic groups in 24 authorities in 1986 and reports have been sent to each participating social services department with advice on how to improve their provision for these groups. Further work by the inspectorate is being planned. The Department is funding three projects aimed at assisting social services authorities in the development of services for ethnic minority groups.
The residential care needs of ethnic minority groups was one of the issues touched on in the independent review of residential care chaired by Lady Wagner. We will be considering Lady Wagner's report further in the light of Sir Roy Griffiths' report on community care and of reactions to both reports and will bring forward our own proposals in due course.