§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what guidelines apply in respect of the eviction from nursing homes of elderly people whose funds are exhausted. [14912]
(2) what powers are available to her to prevent poor elderly citizens from being evicted from homes for the elderly. [14913]
348W
§ Mr. BowisSince April 1993, local authorities have had a responsibility to arrange accommodation in residential care and nursing homes for elderly people who for whatever reason are assessed as needing such care but are unable to meet the cost.
Elderly people who entered independent sector homes before April 1993 may have preserved rights to the higher rates of income support. If such people have been evicted or are threatened with eviction from a residential care home, local authorities have a responsibility to make alternative arrangements. In the case of elderly people in nursing homes who are in this position, the national health service has a responsibility to assess their health needs and to offer appropriate services within the resources available.
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment she has made of the implications of the Department of Environment's proposals for the removal of the requirement for local authorities to retain directly provided residential accommodation in respect of a local authority's duties under(a) the National Assistance Act 1948, other than part III, (b) the Registered Homes Act 1984 and (c) the NHS and Community Care Act 1990; and if she will make a statement. [14708]
§ Mr. BowisLocal authorities already and increasingly discharge their statutory duties to provide residential care through contracts with independent sector providers. Under the Government's proposals, if local authorities thought they were unable to contract for particular services from the independent sector, they could continue to provide them directly.
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many local authority care homes provided under the National Assistance Act 1948 have offered(a) respite care, (b) day care and (c) assessment facilities for each year since 1979. [14709]
§ Mr. BowisThe information available centrally is shown in the table.
Local authority homes for all client groups, England As at 31 March Number of homes with short-stay admissions Number of homes with day care places available 1987 2,849 1,529 1988 2,947 1,765 1989 2,987 1,848 1990 2,957 1,777 1991 2,945 1,755 1992 2,659 1,581 1993 2,388 1,422 1994 2,317 1,336
§ Mr. DenhamTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what proposals she has to amend the rules governing personal contributions to the cost of long-term residential care. [15678]
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how much(a) capital and (b) revenue has been spent on accommodation provided by local authorities under part III of the National Assistance Act 1948 in each year since 1979. [14774]
§ Mr. Bowis[holding answer 22 March 1995]: The information available centrally relates to capital and 349W revenue expenditure on residential accommodation for adults and is shown in the table for the years for which figures are available.
Local authority expenditure on residential accommodation for adults, England Financial year Capital £ million1 Revenue (gross) £ million2 1978–79 — 420 1986–87 — 975 1987–88 — 1,074 1988–89 127 1,179 1989–90 148 1,283 1990–91 119 1,413 1991–92 121 1,483 1992–93 130 1,504 1 Information is not available prior to 1988–89. 2 Information is not available for the years 1979–80 to 1985–86.