§ Mr. HammondTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much funding in total has been disbursed under the local authority promoting independence grant for community equipment services. [118209]
§ Jacqui SmithI have been asked to reply.
In the years 2001 to 2003, while the promoting independence grant was available, some councils may have chosen to use it to help support the modernisation and integration of community equipment services. However, information on such amounts has not been collected centrally. The Department of Health continues to support the development of these services through additions to baseline national health service and social services allocations. In addition, £7.4 million has been made available to councils for community equipment as part of the access and systems grant in 2003–04.