§ Mr. ConwayTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is(a) the payment per resident from his Department to private nursing and or care homes and (b) the public expenditure per resident in local council care.
§ Miss WiddecombeAt May 1990, the latest date for which complete figures are available, the estimated average annual payment of income support to people in residential care and nursing homes was £6,719 per year.
Information regarding amounts of other social security benefits paid to people in residential care and nursing homes and information regarding amounts of any social security benefits paid to people in local authority residential accommodation is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
I understand from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health that the available figures show that in 1988–89, the gross annual expenditure by local social service departments on residential care (excluding nursing home care) per supported resident aged 65 and over was £8,788. The net annual local authority expenditure was £5,980. The difference between gross and net is due to fees and charges, most of which are paid out of social security benefits.