§ 57. Mr. BeithTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what research his Department has carried out into the extent to which it is possible to provide nursing care for the elderly in private homes within the amounts allowed in income support.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardAs part of the Department's annual review of income support limits for people in independent residential care homes and nursing homes, many interested individuals and organisations submit evidence on costs and charges in such homes which we take into consideration along with other information available from the Department's own sources. The Department has commissioned a number of studies into this area, the best known of which was by Ernst and Whinney, published in 1986 and revised in 1987.