HC Deb 02 February 1990 vol 166 c379W
Mr. Alton

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much has been spent on keeping residents in nursing homes and in residential care homes throughout England and Wales since 1984.

Mrs. Gillian Shephard

I regret that the figures are not available in the form requested. The figures as collected for Great Britain are shown in the table:

Supplementary benefit/Income support Residential care and nursing homes expenditure and caseloads—1984–1989
Numbers of claimants Annual equivalent expenditure (nearest £ million)
Residential Care Homes (RCH)
December 19841 — —
December 1985 55,000 259
February 1986 70,000 328
May 1987 85,000 438
May 1988 103,000 556
May 1989 119,000 658
Nursing Homes (NH)
December 19841 — —
December 1985 15,000 89
February 1986 20,000 129
May 1987 32,000 233
May 1988 44,000 322
May 1989 57,000 446
1 Figures for 1984 not collected separately. RCH and NH combined: Claimants 42,000, Annual equivalent expenditure£200 million.
[Due to the effects of rounding when separating categories, combined figures may vary slightly from previously published totals.]