§ Mr. Terry DavisTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what response he has given to the statement published in October by nine members of the Royal Commission on Long-Term Care. [139298]
§ Dr. LadymanNo statement has been made in response to the statement by nine of the members of the Royal Commission on Long-Term Care which reported in 1999. However, we do not believe that making personal care free for everyone is the best use of limited resources. Instead we have significantly increased investment in other aspects of older people's services. We believe that investing in this way will secure greater benefits for older people than could have been achieved by simply providing free personal care.
The recent publication of performance indicators and star ratings for social services for 2002–03 demonstrates that the Government's policy is now having the desired effect with 81,500 people in England now receiving intensive home care to maintain their independence. The proportion of households over the age of 65 receiving intensive home care has risen from 7.9 per 1,000 in 1998–99 to 10.4 per 1,000 in 2002–03 and 57 per cent. of older people in England report that they were either very satisfied or extremely satisfied with the services they received in their own home.