To ask the Secretary of State for Health what feasibility studies his Department have undertaken into the comparative costs and benefits of differing forms of community care provision; and what were the results.

The Department has undertaken a number of such studies in particular those carried out by the personal social services research unit at the University of Kent. They have shown that the costs and benefits of community care are dependent on a range of factors with a complex interrelationship. Copies of relevant studies will be placed in the Library.