§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many representations he has received on the member failures of care homes to pass on 'free' nursing care contributions to residents from(a) Members of Parliament by party group and (b) members of the public. [82965]
§ Jacqui Smith[holding answer 25 November 2002]: Of the in excess of 20,073 letters received by the Department from hon. Members and the in excess of 31,278 received from the public in the last 12 months; 332 and 301 covered issues relating to free nursing care, including fee levels, the process of assessment, banding levels for registered nursing care contributions, policy justification, the mechanisms of payment and the costs of equipment, broken down by party group as follows:
- Labour—165
- Conservatives—126
- Liberal Democrats—36