asked the Minister of Health what progress has been made by the Government Social Survey in their study of the severely disabled.

Pilot studies have been completed, and the main postal inquiry is now in progress. The Secretary of State for Scotland and I are writing personally to those who have been approached but have not so far replied, urging them to help us by completing and returning the inquiry form even if no one in their household is disabled.

asked the Minister of Health what is the estimated cost of the Government's social survey inquiry into whether people over 16 years of age can get about and look after themselves; what sampling techniques are being employed; how many inquiry forms have been sent out; what Government decisions will be affected by the result; and whether the results will be published.

The estimated cost of the inquiry is £111,000. A preliminary postal inquiry has been directed to 250,000 households based on a stratified random sample drawn from the electoral register. Two forms of postal questionaire have been used; the longer has gone to 100,000 households and is intended to identify for subsequent interview people with a significant disability; the shorter has gone to 150,000 households and is designed to obtain for interview an adequate sample of the most severely handicapped who are fewer in number. The main purpose of the survey is to provide factual information on which the development of services for handi-