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Mr. William Wilson
asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will revise the entitlement to an invalidity allowance so that its amount bears relation to the length of the invalidity during the lifetime of the recipient as well as the age of the recipient.
Sir K. Joseph
I am aware of the case which the hon. Member has recently taken up with my Department, and I appreciate the point which he has in mind. But in introducing the new invalidity benefit in September we necessarily had to devise provisions and draw dividing lines which were applicable to the great majority of the chronic sick and their circumstances; and I regret that I see no prospect of making a change such as that suggested by the hon. Member.
| Authority | Population | Home Nurses* | Auxiliaries* | Total* | Population per head of Staff | ||
| England and Wales | … | … | 48,987,700 | 9,292 | 987 | 10,279 | 4,766 |
| England | … | … | 46,253,830 | 8,609 | 966 | 9,575 | 4,831 |
| Birmingham | … | … | 1,084,180 | 220·5 | 24·6 | 245·1 | 4,423 |
| Bradford | … | … | 291,960 | 47·0 | 1·4 | 48·4 | 6,032 |
| Bristol | … | … | 426,370 | 72·5 | 41·4 | 113·9 | 3,743 |
| Cardiff | … | … | 284,010 | 51·0 | 13·0 | 64·0 | 4,438 |
| Coventry | … | … | 335,230 | 51·0 | 17·8 | 68·8 | 4,873 |
| Derby | … | … | 220,130 | 37·3 | 4·5 | 41·8 | 5,266 |
| Kingston upon Hull | … | … | 290,270 | 42·0 | — | 42·0 | 6,911 |
| Leeds | … | … | 502,320 | 79·0 | 10·0 | 89·0 | 5,644 |
| Leicester | … | … | 276,690 | 56·6 | — | 56·6 | 4,888 |
| Liverpool | … | … | 667,000 | 116·0 | 13·0 | 129·0 | 5,171 |
| Manchester | … | … | 590,000 | 117·5 | 11·5 | 129·0 | 4,574 |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | … | … | 236,730 | 42·7 | 3·5 | 46·2 | 5,124 |
| Nottingham | … | … | 300,580 | 60·0 | — | 60·0 | 5,010 |
| Plymouth | … | … | 256,600 | 49·0 | 4·0 | 53·0 | 4,841 |
| Portsmouth | … | … | 211,790 | 24·0 | 16·3 | 40·3 | 5,255 |
| Sheffield | … | … | 525,230 | 131·0 | 55·0 | 186·0 | 2,824 |
| Southampton | … | … | 209,660 | 33·0 | 10·0 | 43·0 | 4,876 |
| Stoke on Trent | … | … | 270,800 | 42·5 | — | 42·5 | 6,372 |
| Teesside | … | … | 411,200 | 58·1 | 11·4 | 69·5 | 5,197 |
| Wolverhampton | … | … | 263,580 | 33·4 | 5·8 | 39·2 | 6,724 |
| *Numbers in whole-time equivalents. | |||||||
| Population June, 1970: | |||||||
| Later figures are not yet available for the whole country. The figures for Portsmouth for 30th September, 1971 show a significant improvement as follows: 204,280 population, 30·5 home nurses, 24·7 auxiliaries giving a total of 55·2 staff and an improved staff/population ratio of 1:3,700. | |||||||