§ Mr. Tom ClarkeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what action he has taken following publication of the results of the survey funded by his Department in 1987 into the integration of mentally handicapped people into local communities.
§ Mr. FreemanI assume that the hon. Member is referring to the summary of a survey undertaken for MENCAP (The Royal Society for Mentally Handicapped Children and Adults) which appeared in the editor's introduction to "Mental Handicap in the Community", edited by Alan Leighton, 1988. The survey was largely funded by the Department as part of its continuing consideration of what it can do to encourage public acceptance of the increasing number of people with a mental handicap receiving care in the community. The survey was in the nature of a pilot project and it would be wrong to over-estimate its reliability. The great majority of people with a mental handicap have always lived in the community and are well accepted there and experience has shown that local action is generally successful in extending this acceptance to others who move into residential care in the community.