§ Mrs. RoeTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what progress is now being made to introduce regional variations in the amount of income support payable to meet the fees of private and voluntary homes outside the Greater London area.
§ Miss WiddecombeThere are no current plans to introduce regional variations beyond the present addition for the Greater London area. Information from the Price Waterhouse survey and other sources does not show a sufficiently secure basis for further geographical variation.
§ Mrs. RoeTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what information his Department collects on the destination of elderly people who leave residential or nursing homes.
§ Miss WiddecombeNo such information is collected.
§ Mrs. RoeTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what evidence he has on whether elderly people have been obliged to leave the residential or nursing homes in which they were living because they were unable to meet the fees.
§ Miss WiddecombeWe are not aware of any instance in which residents relying on income support have been evicted because they could not afford the fees.
§ Mrs. RoeTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many representations he has received on the subject of income support levels to meet the costs of residential and nursing homes in the past six months.
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§ Miss WiddecombeSeveral representations have been received recently, both from individuals and representative bodies.