§ Mr. GoodladTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department has budgeted to be spent in 1987–88 and 1988–89 on continuing mental illness projects.
§ Mrs. CurrieFollowing proposals by all regional health authorities we announced allocations for mental illness development projects in February 1986 of £2 million in 1987–88 and £2.285 million in 1988–89. An innovative community-based family therapy service in Tower Hamlets health authority has also received direct funding of £33,000 in 1987–88 and £34,000 in 1988–89.
§ Mr. GoodladTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the voluntary organisations in the mental illness field which receive departmental grant aid, together with the amounts.
§ Mrs. CurrieThe latest information is as follows:
1988–89 Amount Organisation £000s per annum MIND (National Association for Mental Health) 415 Alzheimer's Disease Society 130 Samaritans1 125 CRUSE (Bereavement Care) 114 Richmond Fellowship 97 National Schizophrenia Fellowship 91 Good Practices in Mental Health 80 Mental After Care Association 50 Mental Health Film Council 35 Anorexic Family Aid 29 Mental Health Foundation 27 British Institute of Industrial Therapy 25 Rape Counselling and Research Project 25 North West Fellowship 20 Northern Schizophrenia Fellowship1 20 Widows' Advisory Trust 18 Phobic Action 5 Phobics Society 5 Nafsiyat (Inter-Cultural Therapy Centre) 5 Women's Therapy Centre 5 Grants are generally agreed for a three-year period and are renewable. Bodies marked with a "1" have grants which fall to be renewed from 1988–89, but new rates have not yet been agreed.
§ Mr. GoodladTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what joint finance monies and project funding are being provided to district health authorities and local authority social services by his Department in the current year to improve the range and quality of day care and other facilities for the mentally ill.
§ Mrs. CurrieWe have allocated £112.8 million to joint finance in 1988–89 to support the development of jointly 143W planned services by health and local authorities for all types of patient. Decisions about the allocation of funding are made at local level on the recommendations of each joint consultative committee. We do not yet have centrally information on expenditure on services for mentally ill people for the current financial year.
§ Mr. GoodladTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department spent on directly commissioned mental illness research in 1987–88; how much has been budgeted for 1988–89; and what each figure represents as a proportion of expenditure on the Health Service research programme.
§ Mrs. CurrieIn 1987–88 the Department spent £1,267,000 on directly commissioned research relevant to mental illness. In 1988–89 a total of £1,307,900 has been made available for such research. Expressed as a percentage of the Department's total health, personal social services and social security research budget, the figures are 9.3 per cent. and 8.2 per cent., respectively.
§ Mr. GoodladTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what funds have been specifically earmarked for the care of the mentally ill following the closure of mental hospitals in each health region in the last year; and if he will make a statement;
(2) if he will list by regional health authority the amounts provided for (a) the last, (b) the current and (c) the next year for bridging funds for local care of patients discharged or excluded from mental hospitals; and how much in each case is provided for long-term patients still to be discharged from hospitals and how much for those already discharged from hospital.
§ Mrs. CurrieIn the main the Department does not identify funds for specific purposes such as the provision of mental illness services within its overall allocations to regions or in its planned provision for local authority social services expenditure. The allocation of resources to district health authorities is a matter for regions, and it is for regions and districts to determine, within a national framework of health care priorities, and in the light of local needs and circumstances, how all their resources can best be used. So far as local authorities are concerned, it is for them to determine the level and balance of their expenditure on the provision of social services.
§ Mr. GoodladTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many residential places in the community will be provided in each health region in(a) the current and (b) the next year for those discharged from mental hospitals.
§ Mrs. CurrieThe information requested is not available. The number of places in homes and hostels for the mentally ill in each local authority in England is published in "Homes and Hostels for Mentally Ill and Mentally Handicapped People"; a copy of which is in the library.