§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines his Department has issued for the purposes of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 which cover the right of mentally handicapped people to demand services.
§ Mr. FreemanThe issuing of guidelines relating to the implementation of the Local Government Act 1988 is for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment. Severely mentally impaired people are exempt from liability to pay the personal community charge under the Act. Their right to local services is, however, no different from those who will be liable to pay the community charge, including those people with a less severe mental impairment.
§ Mr. PawseyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of the population suffers from any form of handicap, physical or mental.
§ Mr. FreemanThe information that my hon. Friend requires is available in the reports "The prevalence of disability among adults" and "The prevalence of disability among children" which were produced at the request of the Department by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys. Copies have been placed in the Library.