Disability (Hansard, 6 June 1991)

§ Mr. Barry Jones
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the organisations representing disabled people in Wales which have contacted his Department; and on how many occasions since 1987 he has met each such organisation.

§ Mr. Nicholas Bennett
The Welsh Office maintains close contact with the major all-Wales organisations representing people with physical or sensory disabilities or mental handicaps.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales and his ministerial colleagues meet such organisations from time to time. For example, my right hon. Friend formally opened the new regional headquarters of the Spastics Society in Cardiff on 16 January this year; and in June last year, my predecessor formally opened the new offices of the Wales Council for the Deaf.

§ Mr. Barry Jones
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what information he has on the number of disabled people in Wales, by category; and if he will publish his latest estimate.

§ Mr. Nicholas Bennett
The latest available wide-ranging information on the incidence of physical and sensory disability is contained in the reports of the OPCS surveys published in 1988–89. These showed that 16.4 per cent. of adults and 3.1 per cent. of children in Wales have such disabilities, the proportions in the upper severity categories 6 to 10 being 6 per cent. of adults (the highest in the United Kingdom) and 2 per cent. of children (equal highest in the United Kingdom).
The latest available figures show that in 1989–90 there were 10,406 people in Wales known to have serious mental handicaps.

§ Mr. Barry Jones
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what policies he has initiated since 1987 to assist people with disabilities in Wales.
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§ Mr. Nicholas Bennett
On 8 May 1990 the Welsh Office issued a circular giving comprehensive guidance to health and local authorities on good practice in the development and delivery of services for people with physical and/or sensory disabilities. Authorities are expected to have regard to that advice in preparing their local strategies for health and their social care plans, which in Wales are being jointly prepared by all the statutory and voluntary agencies concerned.
We have introduced this year a new grant scheme, unique to Wales, to promote the development of more flexible forms of community care for elderly people and for people with physical or sensory disabilities.
The all-Wales mental handicap strategy has been in place since March 1983. We are currently undertaking a comprehensive review of the strategy and propose shortly to publish for consultation our provisional conclusions on the framework for service development from April 1993.