§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the Government provided towards the cost of care home places per person in(a) England, (b) the West Midlands and (c) Coventry in the last year for which figures are available. [144385]
§ Dr. Ladyman[holding answer 17 December 2003]: The Government do not directly allocate funds to local authorities towards the cost of care home places. Rather it provides general funding, distributed by the formula spending share, and revenue grants and capital resources for specific purposes. Personal social services funding for 2004–05 was set out in the Local Authority Social Services Letter LASSL(2003)8 of 19 November 2003. The LASSL can be accessed at: http://www. doh.gov.uk/publications/coinh.html
§ Sue DoughtyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nursing and care home places meet statutory requirements for people over 65 with sensory impairment, broken down by local authority. [146733]
§ Dr. LadymanThe information requested is not available by local authority. Information broken down by National Care Standards Commission (NCSC) area office is shown in the table. In applying the standards through registration, the NCSC seeks evidence of a commitment to continuous improvement, quality services, support, accommodation and facilities which will assure a good quality of life and health for service users.
At 1 October 2003, the latest date for which information is available, there were a total number of 182 care homes registered for sensory impairment for elderly people. These homes provided a total number of 1,582 places.
595W
Breakdown by NCSC area office Area office No of services No of places South Shields 32 116 Leicester 41 400 Lincoln 1 1 Somerset 1 0 Gloucester 3 15 St. Austell 2 10 Avon 1 22 Exeter 2 22 South Devon 3 88 Worcester 2 34 Coventry 1 13 Birmingham 2 98 Halesowen 1 1
Breakdown by NCSC area office Area office No of services No of places Ashton Under Lyne 36 120 Manchester 2 0 Bolton 2 3 North Lanes 1 38 Penrith 1 36 South West London 2 44 Harrow 1 0 Southampton 3 90 Oxford 1 2 Purrey 29 179 Eastbourne 1 44 Worthing 1 2 Hertfordshire 2 57 Cambridge 2 5 North Essex 2 60 South Essex 1 25 Hessle 1 21 Leeds 1 6 Sheffield 1 30 Total 182 1,582
§ Sue DoughtyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the Government's strategy for ensuring that there are sufficient care and nursing home places which meet statutory requirements for people over 65 with sensory impairment to satisfy demand. [146734]
§ Dr. LadymanThe Government has made available substantial increases in the level of funding provided for social services in recent years. Between 1996–97 and 2002–03, the overall level of funding has increased by 20 per cent., an average real terms annual increase of around three per cent. We intend to increase further resources to social services for personal social services by an annual average of six per cent, in real terms from 2003–04 to 2005–06.
It is for local councils to use these extra resources to ensure that the right amount and range of care is made available, taking account of local circumstances and priorities.
§ Mr. DjanoglyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many publicly-funded care home places there were in Huntingdon in each year since 1999. [146449]
§ Dr. LadymanThe table shows the number of local authority (LA) staffed care home places in Cambridgeshire, as at 31 March, for the years 1999 to 2001.
Figures for later years have been collected by the National Care Standards Commission, but comparable details broken down by LA are not available.
Information on the number of care homes places in Huntingdon is not available.
Number of local authority staffed care home places in 31 March 1999 to 2001 Rounded numbers Number of places 1999 690 2000 610 2001 550 Source:
RA