§ Mr. HannamTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what guidance his Department gave to local authorities concerning money allocated for the implementation of sections 5 and 6 of the Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act 1986; and if he will make a statement;
(2) what money has been, and will be, made available to local authorities for the implementation of sections 5 and 6 of the Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act 1986 in the years 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91 and 1991–92;
(3) whether the money made available to local authorities for the implementation of sections 5 and 6 of the Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act 1986 was ring-fenced; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. FreemanWe agreed with the local authority associations in 1987 that the additional costs of implementation of sections 5 and 6 of the Act were in the region of £5 million in 1988–89 and £19 million in 1989–90, rising to around £24 million in a full year. These amounts have been taken into consideration in determining the level of central Government support to local authorities for the appropriate year. They have not been ring-fenced or separately identified, as is the case with the vast majority of our support for local authorities. Our guidance to local authorities on implementation of sections 5 and 6 included a reminder that the resource implications had been agreed and taken into account in public expenditure discussions.