HC Deb 15 November 1988 vol 140 cc560-1W
Mr. Austin Mitchell

To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he will publish in theOfficial Report a table for each financial year since 1973 and his estimate for the current year of the number of ophthalmic tests carried out under the National Health Service and the number of new eye glasses prescribed, the cost of the tests and the glasses prescribed, the number for which payment had to be paid in whole or in part and the estimated average percentage contribution to the total cost in such cases and the number of free treatments for (a) children, (b) pensioners and (c) other beneficiaries, together with the numbers qualifying for such treatment and the cost; and what is his estimate of the average number of treatments given to a married manual worker, his wife and two children, together with the amount charged for those treatments.

Mr. Mellor

The information available is given in the table. It does not enable us to estimate the number of sight tests, spectacles and charges for a manual worker and his family.

(a) those who qualified for supplementary benefit and (b) those who would qualify for income support by raising the ceiling on means by 50 per cent.

Mrs. Currie

We estimate that the cost of exempting people over state pensionable age from prescription charges is about £300 million a year. It is not possible to estimate reliably the cost of exempting only those pensioners in receipt of income support (formerly supplementary benefit) or who would qualify by raising the ceiling on means by 50 per cent.

Mr. Fisher

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his estimate is of the total number of people entitled to claim exemption from prescription charges on grounds of low income.

Mrs. Currie

[holding answer 11 November 1988]: We estimate that about 6 million people are automatically entitled to exemption from prescription charges because they are in receipt of qualifying benefits. (Some will also be exempt on other grounds.) We are unable to estimate the numbers of people not in receipt of such benefits who are entitled to claim exemption on grounds of low income.