asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he could indicate what were the factors taken into account in deciding the membership of the Attendance Allowance Board; and whether it was intended that the members should be in any sense representative of the interested bodies or of the different regions.

The Attendance Allowance Board has been constituted in accordance with the provisions of Section 5 of the National Insurance (Old persons' and widows' pensions and attendance allowance) Act 1970. The main point we have had in mind in making appointments has been the need to secure the services of people best fitted to carry out the functions assigned to the Board by the Act. The membership of the Board therefore consists of experienced medical practitioners and one person from outside the medical profession; all of them have a special interest in and knowledge of the needs of the disabled.