asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what are the most recent available figures for the cost of providing care for a severely disabled person in (a) a general or geriatric ward of a National Health Service hospital, (b) a chronic sick unit attached to a National Health Service hospital, (c) a residential home run by charitable organisations and (d) fully adapted accommodation and services within the community, respectively.

The costs of treating patients with specific diseases or conditions are not separately distinguished in hospitals in which the specialities are mixed. In 1973–74, the annual average costs in hospitals of the nearest appropriate types in England were:

	£
Hospitals wholly or predominantly containing geriatric beds	2,435
Hospitals classified as partly acute	4,000
Hospitals classified as long stay	2,435
Hospitals classified as orthopaedic	4,840

No information is available centrally on costs in residential homes run by charitable organisations. The annual average costs in local authority residential accommodation for the younger physically handicapped and for the elderly were £742, excluding debt charges.