§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security for how long his Department has been considering the issue of the benefit entitlement from his Department of patients and clients in long-term local authority care proposed to be placed in the care of successor agencies, the private sector or trusts; when his press release regarding the curtailment of such benefit entitlement issued on 25 June was sent to local authorities, and on what dates; and how many subsequent inquiries from local authorities and others his Department has received.
§ Miss WiddecombeThe benefit entitlement of people in local authority care homes that are transferred to the private or voluntary sector has been under active consideration for some time. Officials have been considering the matter in some detail since February 1991. The press release was not issued to local authorities as a matter of course, but only on request. The draft directions referred to in the press release were issued by the Department of Health to local authorities associations on the same day. The Department has received a small number of inquiries about the press release, but no record has been kept of the exact number.