§ Mr. AshleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to promote and encourage independent advocacy schemes for disabled people.
§ Mr. FreemanThe Department has approved a grant under section 64 of the Health and Public Services Act 1968 in 1989–90 towards the administrative costs of national citizen advocacy, which aims to promote the development of high quality citizen advocacy for mentally handicapped people in the United Kingdom. We are also contributing towards the cost of a project run by "one to one", an organisation which recruits and trains volunteers to act as friends, enablers and advocates of mentally handicapped people. We have no plans for formal independent advocacy schemes for other groups of disabled people.
§ Mr. AshleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he will take steps to ensure that local authorities are authorised to make payments to disabled people for the purchase of care or personal assistance services.
§ Mr. FreemanLocal authorities are not authorised to make such payments and we have no plans further to do 81W so. Nevertheless the White Paper "Caring for People" proposes that local authorities should set up systems for assessing the care needs of disabled people and arranging packages of care to meet them. Disabled people and their carers should be fully involved in this process.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Security has just published a Command Paper, "The Way Ahead: Benefits for Disabled People" containing proposals for improvements in the structure of social security help for disabled people. These improvements, which will increase social security spending in 1993–94 by some £300 million as announced last week, reflect the Government's aim of ensuring a better life for Britain's disabled people.
§ Mr. AshleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department is funding any independent case management schemes for disabled people.
§ Mr. FreemanI refer the right hon. Member to the reply that I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Exeter (Mr. Hannam) on 20 December at column339.
§ Mr. Alfred MorrisTo ask the Secretary of State for Health on what date he now intends to implement section 3 of the Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act 1986.
§ Mr. FreemanI refer the right hon. Member to my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Exeter on 19 December 1989 at column170.