§ Mr. Tom ClarkeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what is the estimated number of people with(a) mental handicap, (b) mental illness, (c) physical disability and (d) sensory impairment who would need an authorised representative under the Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act 1986;
(2) what is the estimated number of authorised representatives necessary to implement sections 1 and 2 of the Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act 1986;
(3) what figure for the number of disabled people was used to estimate the cost of £18 million to implement sections 1 and 2 of the Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act 1986;
(4) what is the estimated cost for one authorised representative over one year acting under the Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act 1986.
§ Mr. DorrellThe local authority associations' estimates of the potential costs of sections 1 and 2 of the Act are based on detailed work undertaken independently by two contrasting local authorities. The estimates assume that authorised representatives might have been appointed for approximately 144,000 disabled people annually, on a one-to-one basis. Around a quarter of this number would be people with a mental handicap, with the remainder largely attributable to those suffering from mental illness, including dementia; a minimal proportion of the total would be people with physical disability or sensory impairment only. The estimates of the costs of an authorised representative for one year range from around £40 for administration, to about £215 if expenses and fees were also to be payable.
§ Mr. Tom ClarkeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his estimate of the costs of carrying out procedures under the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 to give representation to disabled people.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThe involvement of disabled people and those who care for them in decisions about the services they need is central to the Government's policy for 43W community care. However, it is not possible to say how many procedures under the National Health Service and Community Care Act, for example in relation to complaints and assessment, will involve individual disabled people being represented, and it is therefore not possible to estimate the costs arising.