asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether the report by Professor Michael Warren and Mrs. Rose Knight of Canterbury university on the surveys of disabled people carried out by local authorities is yet available.
I am glad to be able to say that the report is published today. I am sending copies to all local and health authorities and one will be placed in the Library. The report brings together much useful information about the way local authorities set about identifying disabled people. My hope is that it will help individual authorities to measure their own performance and to judge how the number of disabled people they have identified compares with what has been achieved by other authorities with broadly similar demographic features to their own. Among other points, the report illustrates that many disabled people are not in regular contact with the providers of services. It should, therefore, remind all the caring agencies of the need urgently to review their services and to consider how they can set about making contact with every disabled person who needs their help.