§ Mr. MeacherTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will indicate projected expenditure in the current year and the next five years on(a) private residential homes, (b) private nursing homes and (c) Department of Social Security payments to local authorities for community care; and if he will indicate the expected number of elderly persons who in each case will benefit.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardAt August 1989, the latest date for which figures are available, total income support expenditure on an annualised basis for people in independent residential care homes and nursing homes was estimated to be £1,073 million to 173,000 claimants. Of that total £639 million is for those receiving residential care, £434 million for nursing care. All figures are rounded. Information about expected numbers of income support claimants and expenditure for future years is published in the public expenditure White Paper (Cm. 1014). It has never been the practice to publish separate forecasts about expenditure specifically on people in residential care and nursing homes.