asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the total development costs, whether met jointly or separately by his Department and A.C. Cars, respectively, the estimated capital and distribution costs and estimated maintenance costs of the four-wheeled specialised single-seater invalid vehicle, listing what future contracts have been placed with A.C. Cars for the production of the vehicle from April 1978 onwards.
The Department has not commissioned, nor contributed towards the cost of, any research connected with the production of such a vehicle; nor are there plans to do so in the future. I am not aware that A.C. Cars are currently active in this field. I am, of course, in touch with several interesting developments of vehicles for the disabled by other enterprises.
asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the average annual cost per head involved in the issue to the disabled of invalid tricycles and four-wheeled vehicles, respectively, for the years ended 30th September 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1977, respectively.
Expenditure on three-wheelers and cars in England in the financial years 1969–70 to 1976–77, expressed as a unit cost per vehicle driver at the midpoint in each financial year (30th September) was as follows:
| Cars | Three-Wheelers | ||
| £ | £ | ||
| 1969–70 | … | 188 | 171 |
| 1970–71 | … | 178 | 184 |
| 1971–72 | … | 181 | 235 |
| 1972–73 | … | 227 | 243 |
| 1973–74 | … | 275 | 267 |
| 1974–75 | … | 268 | 302 |
| 1975–76 | … | 345 | 365 |
| 1976–77 | … | 270 | 425 |