§ Mr. BurnsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many residential homes(a) in the private sector and (b) owned by local authorities have closed since 1 May 1997. [8922]
§ Jacqui Smith[holding answer 15 October 2001]: I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer the hon. Member to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.
The table shows the number of residential care homes by sector, in England on 31 March in each of the last five years. These figures take account of new homes, those that closed and those that made changes to their registration status or extended their existing facilities. It is not possible to determine the precise number of homes that have closed from this information.
809W
Residential care homes, 1997 to 2001, England, as at 31 March Rounded numbers Residential care homes1 (a) Private sector residential homes2 (b)local auhority staffed homes 1997 24,500 22,200 2,300 1998 24,900 22,700 2,200 1999 24,800 22,700 2,100 2000 24,800 22,700 2,000 2001 24,100 22,200 1,900 1 Includes dual registered homes. 2 Consistsof voluntary, private, small homes and dual registered homes. Note: Figures may not add to totals because of rounding. Source: Department of Health annual returns.