HC Deb 15 January 1990 vol 165 cc115-6W
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security to which organisations his Department has circulated copies of the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys reports for comment.

Mr. Scott

Copies of the OPCS reports dealing with the prevalence of disability and the financial circumstances of disabled people were sent by the Department to the following organisations of and for disabled people:

  • Access Committee for England
  • Action for Research into Multiple Sclerosis
  • Age Concern1
  • Arthritis Care
    • 116
  • Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus
  • British Diabetic Association
  • British Epilepsy Association
  • Centre on Environment for the Handicapped
  • Disability Alliance2
  • Disablement Income Group
  • Disabled Living Foundation
  • Help the Aged1
  • Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
  • National Association for Mental Health
  • National Council for Carers
  • Parkinson's Disease Association1
  • Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation
  • Royal National Institute for the Blind
  • Royal National Institute for the Deaf
  • Royal Society for Mentally Handicapped Children and Adults
  • Scottish Council on Disability
  • Scottish Society for the Mentally Handicapped
  • SENSE—National Deaf-Blind and Rubella Association Spastics Society
  • Wales Council for the Disabled.
1 These organisations received only copies of the reports dealing with the circumstances of adults and not those dealing with children. 2 A federation of over 80 organisations of and for disabled people.

Copies of these reports were also sent to a number of other bodies with an interest in issues concerning disabled people such as Motability and the local authority associations.

Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations have been made to his Department about the accuracy of the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys findings on extra costs incurred by disabled people as a result of their disability.

Mr. Scott

The findings of the surveys of disability carried out by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys were based on a sample of over 10,000 people. Representations have been received from the Disablement Income Group, the Royal National Institute for the Blind, and the Spastics Society. These organisations carried out three separate studies based on 10 or 13 cases, which suggested that the extra costs of disability were higher than the averages found by OPCS.