asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many National Health Service maternity hospitals and departments give family planning advice to all mothers before or after childbirth as a matter of routine; and what proportion of the total of such hospitals and departments this represents.

A complete picture is not centrally available. However, I can say that my right hon. Friend is not content with the situation as he finds it in many parts of the country, and last week issued new guidance in a letter to hospital boards and teaching hospitals. He asked them to review arrangements for providing family planning advice in their hospitals and to let him know what developments they propose so that an effective service is available to all women patients. Copies of the letter have been placed in the Library of the House.

I am much obliged to my hon. Friend. I would be glad if he would thank his right hon. Friend for the response he has made to this request, which I made to him some time ago. Will he bear in mind that if this is properly done in National Health Service hospitals there will be opportunity for research into satisfactory methods of contraception to be carried out and this can play a great part in relieving women of anxiety and unwanted pregnancies?

I am much obliged to my hon. Friend. I agree with the point she made about research. I am sure that hospitals can make a further contribution to family planning advice by providing a service to their patients.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what advice he has now given to the Birmingham Regional Hospital Board to other regional hospital boards and to hospital management committees about the publicity that should be given to their meetings and the contacts between members of these bodies and the Press.

My right hon. Friend has recently discussed with the Birmingham Regional Hospital Board and more recently with regional hospital board chairmen measures to improve communications with the public and Press generally. He has in particular indicated to them the criteria to be observed in appointing information officers to act as regional boards' main point of contact with Press, television and radio and to develop communications in their regions.

Again I am much obliged to my hon. Friend for this sign that there is progress on this side of public relations in the hospital service. Will he clarify the point about the rights of members of regional hospital boards to approach members of the Press where they feel that it is in the public interest to do so?

In reply to the first part of that supplementary question, my right hon. Friend is, of course, very anxious that there should be a free flow of information. This is why he has taken the steps he has taken, and Birmingham is looking around for an experienced officer to develop positive relations with the Press and other media. On the second part of the question members of boards and committees, in the view of my right hon. Friend, should observe the rules normally followed by local authorities in regard to disclosure of matters still under discussion.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what further action he is taking to tighten the administration of his Department with the object of eliminating unwarranted payment of sickness benefit and supplementary benefit.

Claims for sickness benefit must be supported by medical evidence of incapacity for work and are subject to systematic checks. In 1968 we referred 546,000 claimants to the Regional Medical Service for examination and made 432,000 home visits.

As for unwarranted payments of supplementary benefits, there are a variety of means of dealing with abuse and fraudulent claims. I am glad to announce that, in addition to increases made in 1968 and 1969, there will be a further increase of about 100 specialist staff in 1970 for unemployment review officers and special investigators.

In June of this year the Secretary of State said that he was mounting a special inquiry into the unwarranted and alarming increase in sickness benefit payments, and in reply to me he said that he would consider making a similar inquiry in respect of unemployment benefit. What has happened to those inquiries? Have they been mounted? If so, what result has come from them?

The study of sickness benefit claims is proceeding and I am not yet able to make a statement, though it should be realised that two of the reasons for the increase in the amount of money paid out in sickness benefit are, first, the increased cost of the benefit and, secondly, the fact that about half of all days of incapicity relate to people who have been sick for six months and more. I have no statement to make yet about the unemployment benefit study.

Every hon. Member would want to curtail and eliminate abuses in payments of this kind. Can my hon. Friend give any idea of the proportion of the total amount incurred in supplementary benefits which has been found to be fraudulent in the last three years and how many hon. Members have brought cases to his attention which were proved later to be fraudulent claims?

In many cases there has been much unfortunate publicity. There are two forms of abuse. One is the sort of abuse of the Supplementary Benefits Commission which has been indulged in by some sections of the Press. Last Sunday the News of the World had a four-inch heading which said that one in every four women on benefit was drawing money illegally. This was a monstrous statement.

The vast majority of women drawing benefits are pensioners and widows. In 1965 we conducted a study of 152,000 case papers of deserted wives, divorced women with children, and women with illegitimate children. Even in this area, in which abuse might be thought to be a likely one, we found a fraud rate not of 25 per cent, but of less than 7½ per cent.

Does the Minister realise that the reports of abuse, whether confirmed or otherwise, can easily do great harm to those who are entitled to benefits? Can he give an assurance, in view of the statement he has just made, that where there appears to be fraud these matters will be investigated more promptly than has been the case hitherto?

Very many cases of fraud are investigated and many of them are brought to court. In other cases allowances are reduced where we find that a claim has been a wrong one. I agree that this type of publicity can do a great deal of damage. The decision I announced to increase the staff both of special investigators and of unemployment review officers is an indication of our determination to deal with what is a small degree of abuse but a very disturbing and often very widely publicised one.

How many prosecutions have been instituted during the past year or two years as a result of the Department's investigations?

I do not have that statistic available here. I will write to the hon and learned Gentleman, or perhaps he would care to table a Question seeking the information.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what steps he is taking to improve the procedures under which doctors certify death.

I would refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend's reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Brixton, (Mr. Lipton) on 1st December.—[Vol. 792, c. 203.]

Does the Under-Secretary accept that there is great public concern about recent cases where people were taken for dead and then found to be alive? Will he do everything possible with the Home Office to hasten the necessary tightening up of these procedures?

I agree that there has been concern about some recent cases. A committee has been looking into death certification and coroners' work. We hope that its report will be complete by the summer of next year. I think that we should await this report because it will cover the whole field, in particular the aspect about which the hon. Gentleman is concerned.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many new hospital beds, either in new hospitals or by expansion of existing hospitals, are coming into use during the current year; and what is the average cost per bed.

Hospital building schemes costing £75,000 or more completed in 1969 will provide about 4,900 modern beds. The cost per bed varies greatly depending on the type of hospital and the services provided and averages can be misleading. £8,000 (plus fees, equipment and land costs) represents an average figure per bed for a typical complete district general hospital.

Although those figures are welcome, is it not also vital that the percentage of occupancy of total beds, which has been declining for the last five years, should be increased again? Does not this underline the urgency of improving salaries for the nursing profession?

Bed occupancy and nurses' salaries are different questions, one of which comes up on the Order Paper later. The hospital building programme has expanded considerably in recent years. We are spending five times as much in the current year as was being spent ten years ago.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what estimate he has made of the number of hospital beds which are now empty because of a shortage of staff in the hospitals concerned.

This information is not available centrally.

Is the Under-Secretary aware that since 1964 both the number of hospital beds and their occupancy have declined? At the moment there are probably thousands of hospital beds empty. To what extent is this due to a shortage of doctors and nurses?

The figure the hon. Gentleman gives includes psychiatric hospital beds; and there has been a dramatic change in psychiatry, in that more patients are now treated outside hospital. Comparing the present picture with 1962, there has been an increase in the number of non-psychiatric hospital beds. There has also been a quite dramatic increase in the number of in-patients treated, from just over 4¼ million in 1962 to well over 5 million in 1968. This, together with the increased number of nurses employed in hospitals, shows a very different picture from that which the hon. Gentleman was painting for the House.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what steps he proposes to take to protect the pension rights of beneficiaries of occupational pension schemes which have accrued before 1972.

I would ask the hon. Gentleman to await the publication of the National Superannuation and Social Insurance Bill on Wednesday.

Does the Minister of State accept the principle that a pension is a form of deferred pay?

This is certainly a very fair principle to be accepted as regards occupational pensions.

Is my hon. Friend aware that under existing occupational schemes employees who leave the service of their firms do not get the deferred pay which was the employers' contribution?

This is so. One of the disturbing facts is the number of those leaving pensionable employment without any preserved pension but only a cash sum, which is by no means comparable with a pension. This is why we are dealing with the question of preservation of pension rights in the new legislation.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if, in his forthcoming White Paper on Social Security, he will indicate the effect of his proposed legislation on existing public service pension schemes.

No, Sir. The White Paper, which we are proposing to publish next Wednesday together with the National Superannuation and Social Insurance Bill, will be an Explanatory Memorandum dealing only with matters contained in that Bill.

As these changes will be in occupational schemes, and will be effected by Ministers who presumably already know the contents of the Bill to be published on Wednesday, why cannot the House be informed before we are called upon to vote on this Bill? What will be the effect on these occupational schemes which are of such interest to so many of our constituents?

It is essential that there should be fair and effective consultation between Government Departments and Ministers as well as local authorities which are responsible for employees in the public sector in order that their views should be known, too. It is not the intention of the Government to impose their will. Consultation is absolutely essential, and consultations are now about to begin. But, as the right hon. Gentleman knows, my right hon. Friend and I have given a number of positive assurances in this House about public service pensions.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what Departmental arrangements he plans for replying to inquiries from pensioners under his proposed new scheme as to the calculation of their pensions.

Most such inquiries at present are dealt with by the staff of the Department's local offices, and it is envisaged that this arrangement will continue. Each contributor will receive regular accounts of his dynamised earnings record.

Under the proposed new scheme every State pensioner will have a different retirement pension from every other State pensioner in the land. Does the Minister not accept that this will mean an infinity of inquiries, since those who have lower pensions than others will not believe that they have been treated with justice, even if they have been?

It is also true that the existing hybrid scheme which was introduced by the hon. Gentleman's right hon. Friend produces different results according to earnings levels, as it does also in occupational pensions schemes. But I can assure the hon. Gentleman that since we are introducing a system by which contributors to National Insurance will every year receive a record indicating what earnings they have had over the years which will entitle them to a pension, they will be far better informed than they are at present.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what estimate he has made of the proportion of their own and their employers' contributions combined to be returned to beneficiaries of the proposed new pension scheme as graduated pension who retired after 20 years' membership of it, in cases where they had earned throughout the period the national average wage, half the national average wage, one and a half times the national average wage, and three times the national average wage, respectively.

Ignoring insurance under the present scheme, future changes in the levels; of prices, earnings, contributions and pensions, and the effect of interest and any alteration in average life expectancy, the amount paid by way of pension to a single man retiring at age 65, having had earnings at the specified level in every week, would be two and three-quarter times, nearly four times, rather under two-and-a-half times and a little over one-and-a-half times, respectively, the amount paid by way of contributions, assuming no abatement for contracting out. In the case of a married man with a wife five years younger than himself, the comparable figures would be rather over five-and-a-half times, eight times, four-and-a-half times and three times respectively.

Is it not clear that these figures mean that beneficiaries of the State scheme will be getting completely unequal treatment, and that if the Minister insists on embodying in his Bill the principle of the redistribution of savings, it will never have public support?

I do not for a moment accept that suggestion. I have little doubt that there will be great public support for a principle which is far fairer, by which people pay according to their earnings and have benefits which are related to their contributions. Of course, it is much fairer.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he is satisfied with the operation of the procedure of applying for vacancies in general practice; and whether he will make a statement.

I am not aware of any defects in this procedure, but I shall be glad to look into any particular problem the hon. Member may have in mind if he will send me details of it.

I am grateful to the Under-Secretary for that statement. Can he give the House the assurance that there is no question of political considerations being taken into account?

Yes; I can give the House that assurance.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what consultations he has had with interested bodies about the recommendations of the Zuckerman Report on Hospital Scientific and Technical Services; and if he will make a statement.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what consultations he has had with interested bodies about the recommendations of the report on hospital scientific and technical services; if he will consider preparing a Green Paper; and if he will make a statement.

We have consulted a wide range of interested bodies and received a large number of comments, which we have been taking into account in our consideration of the report. My right hon. Friend hopes to be able to make a statement shortly.

It is now many months since the Zuckerman Report was issued. Is the Minister satisfied that there has been adequate consultation so far?

The consultations we have had so far have been worth while, but I expect there will be further consultations before action is taken. Hon. Members on both sides would want to be assured that in such an important issue as this we have had adequate consultations with all the various interests involved.

Are not very large and complicated issues involved? Will the Under-Secretary do his utmost to ensure that the fears which some organisations still have as to adequate consultations are fully and effectively overcome?

I agree that the report raises a number of very important questions which require careful consideration. I hope that my answer shows that we are conscious of the fears that some organisations have and that we are taking these matters into consideration in having worthwhile and detailed consultations.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether the Government will publish a White Paper on the living conditions of mentally sub-normal patients.

My right hon. Friend hopes to publish a statement of policy on all aspects of services for the mentally handicapped within two or three months.

As the Minister is thinking of appointing an Ombudsman for the Health Service, may I press him to allow the Ombudsman to look into complaints about mental hospitals, whether those complaints arise from the patients, their relatives or the public, as half the hospital beds are occupied by the mentally ill?

I can assure the hon. Gentleman that in a study which my right hon. Friend is carrying out into means of dealing with complaints, complaints about mentally ill and mentally subnormal, as well as other types of patient, will be dealt with.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many of the 1,600 four-wheeled cars have now been granted to disabled drivers under the categories announced in March 1967.

258 applications have been received, of which 200 have succeeded.

Is this not an extraordinarily small number of vehicles issued? What is the reason for this? Does it mean that the Ministry has got this figure of 1,600 four-wheelers which might have been issued wrong?

Certainly the number of applications received, and, conse- quently, the number of vehicles issued, is less than was anticipated by my Department. It is difficult to forecast the demand. In 1964 when we estimated that 80 families would benefit from an extension of the service, there were, in fact, 663 successful applications.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the average difference in the cost to public funds over a period of six years between the cost of a three-wheeled and a four-wheeled car for disabled drivers, including capital cost, modifications, repairs, maintenance and other normal expenses.

Based on the financial years 1963–69 for England and Wales a four-wheeled car for disabled drivers costs £28 10s. more per vehicle, per year, than a three-wheeled car.

Is not this sum, the difference between the two—the three and the four-wheeler—absolutely minute? Would it not be more sensible for the Government to issue four-wheelers to disabled drivers throughout?

I do not think this figure is absolutely minute. After all, this difference is continued year after year. Many of these vehicles last for five, six and seven years, and it represents a significant sum, particularly when one considers the cost of the service as a whole.

As to providing four-wheeled vehicles throughout, there are a considerable number of disabled people who cannot use four-wheeled vehicles, and there will always be a considerable demand for three-wheelers such as we have at present.

Does not the answer to these Questions suggest that the Government ought to be looking again at the categories and the criteria for these vehicles?

In the last few weeks I have instituted within my Department an inquiry into the possible consequences in terms of the cost and benefit to the community of extensions to the service. I would not like to go further than that at this stage.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what estimate he has made of the number of people who are eligible for help who do not apply for supplementary benefit; and what number of these is old-age pensioners.

There have been no recent surveys on which such estimates might be based, but, following the introduction of the supplementary benefit scheme, the number receiving supplementary pensions increased by 450,000.

While recognising the recent improvement, on which I congratulate the hon. Gentleman's predecessor, may I ask him whether he would not agree that there still remains an important consideration, particularly in making clear to the public the distinction between die provision which must necessarily be made by the State to a reasonable level and that which should be left to private and company schemes?

We are most anxious that the general public, and particularly those: earning modest incomes, should be aware of their entitlement. We use every opportunity to bring this to their attention. Perhaps I might refer, as an example, to the Supplementary Benefits Commission's recent book "The Right to Help", copies of which, corrected to take account of the recent increase in scale rates, are now available in the Vote Office. This is one of the most helpful and constructive ways of bringing to the attention of people and their advisers what their entitlements are.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people now receive supplementary benefit payments in respect of house rents and rates; and if, in cases of habitual rent and rates arrears, he will take steps to empower the local offices of his Department to make the payments for rent and rates direct to the local authority or private owners of the property.

About 2,300,000 people were receiving supplementary benefit which took account of their rent and rates in August, 1969, the latest date for which this information is available. The Supplementary Benefits Commission already has power to pay rent or rates direct to the landlord, and this power is exercised by the local offices of the Department in appropriate cases.

Would the hon. Gentleman agree that this power is not exercised in a sufficient number of cases and that many families which have to cater for monthly rents and rates find that they cannot budget on the weekly payments from the Ministry? Would the hon. Gentleman encourage his officers to use this power more frequently?

I agree that there are more circumstances in which this right should and might well be used. It would be quite wrong for it to become general, however, because it is important that people on supplementary benefits should live independently, making use of the funds which are made available to them. But people in real difficulty and those who are accustomed to getting behind in their rents are the sort of people for whom this provision is made.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services on what date a health centre will be provided at Kirkbymoorside to provide the outpatient facilities which were a condition precedent to his approval of the closure of the Adela Shaw Orthopaedic Hospital.

The local health authority has included a health centre at Kirkbymoorside in its capital building programme for 1970–71 but informs me that it is still looking for a site. Outpatient facilities will continue to be provided at the hospital until they can be made available at the health centre.

Will the hon. Gentleman take it that there is grave concern in my constituency not only about delay in providing a health centre but also because a number of long-stay orthopaedic child patients are being transferred to hospitals for the mentally sub-normal against the will of their parents?

I appreciate the concern about delay. This has been caused by the difficulty of finding a suitable site. As soon as the local authority puts forward an application for loan sanction, my right hon. Friend will be ready to accept it.

The question of in-patients is slightly different, as the right hon. Gentleman knows; he has both discussed the matter with me and received a letter from me on the subject. As I understand it, some of the cases at this hospital are those tragic cases in which a severe orthopaedic disability is associated with mental sub-normality. On the closure of this unit, some of these cases, in the opinion of their medical advisers, would be best catered for in an institute specialising in the care of the mentally sub-normal. I understand that of the 21 children transferred from this hospital in only two cases have there been any objections by the parents concerned.

In view of the unsatisfactory nature of the second part of that reply, I beg to give notice that I shall seek to raise the matter on the Adjournment.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he is satisfied with the present provision of geriatric beds in rural areas; and if he will make a statement.

It would not be practicable to make provision for the rural population exclusively in their own areas, but my right hon. Friend is sure that small hospitals in rural areas have a complementary rôle to the district general hospital and that a great deal more thought must be given to the best way of providing as near as possible to their homes for people who need long-term care.

In view of the hardship suffered by old people when transferred far from their homes, will the hon. Gentleman consider inviting hospital authorities to use Section 31 of the Health Services and Public Health Act and provide transport for visitors to these old patients?

That is a slightly different question, although I am prepared to look into it. One should make the point that many old folk require highly specialised hospital treatment in active geriatric units, and it is not always possible to provide this near to patients' homes because a large number of patients is required to make a unit efficient and worth while.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what progress has been made in the negotiations for improved salary scales for nurses; and whether the increases proposed will be required to come within the norms of the prices and incomes policy.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a further statement on the current claim for increased salaries for the nursing profession and the negotiations arising there-from.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will now make a further statement on measures to be taken to improve the pay structure of the nursing profession.

We expect to receive the final part of this important claim this week, and the two sides of the Whitley Council have planned a series of joint negotiations to start after Christmas Urgent consideration is being given to the application of the relevant aspects of the new White Paper on incomes policy which has just been published.

That is welcome as far as it goes, but does my hon. Friend realise that there would be national unanimity on the desirability of giving to the nurses and ancillary service staff in our hospitals a substantial increase with some element of retrospection in it? Can he say whether, or when, he will be able to make a definite announcement on the matter?

I cannot at this stage say when a definite announcement will be made. As hon. Members know, the last award is due to run until the end of March next year. My Department is conscious of the great feeling of many people in the community about the nurses' case. As a measure of that, I can tell the House that we have received over 126,000 signed copies of the printed letter issued by the Royal College of Nursing and about 2,000 other letters on the subject.

Will my hon. Friend bear in mind that the most satisfactory aspect of the Government's incomes policy is that it is committed to help the low-paid, for these are people who are poorly organised and who do not command economic power? The nursing profession is an outstanding example of this section of the community.

I agree with what my hon. Friend has said about the Government's incomes policy White Paper, and I take note of the point which she makes about the nursing profession in this regard.

Will the Government give as much sympathy as possible to this, case, since a large number of nurses are leaving this country to go abroad as well, thus adding to the problems of our hospitals at present?

We shall certainly give as much consideration as we can to this case—a great deal more, I may say, than hon. Members opposite gave it some years ago when the nurses were subjected to a 2½ per cent, wage increase.

As regards the number of nurses going abroad, although this may give rise to some concern, I should emphasise, as I did earlier today, that the number of nurses employed in the National Health Service has been going up every year.

Will the hon. Gentleman confirm what I understood him to say in answer to his hon. Friend the Member for Halifax (Dr. Summerskill), that he does regard the nurses as lower-paid workers within the meaning of that term in the Government's most recent White Paper on prices and incomes?

I think that the hon. Gentleman slightly misunderstood what I said. I said that I took note of the position of nurses in regard to lower-paid workers, and I agreed with my hon. Friend that the part of the White Paper which dealt with the problems faced by lower-paid workers was very important.

Will the Minister bear in mind that the nurses and the country feel strongly not only about the present level of salaries but also about the career structure, and will he give an absolute assurance that the Government will take into account that nurses are not prepared to try to enforce their claims by strike action?

We all respect the nurses because they have said that they are not prepared in any circumstances to go to strike action. The problem of the career structure is very real. There has been a considerable improvement in recent years, with the introduction of the Salmon career structure. Obviously, this is one of the points which must be taken into consideration in the negotiations ahead.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will tabulate in the OFFICIAL REPORT the average weekly wage for nursing sisters and nursing staff, including and excluding extras provided by the hospital services, for each of the last 10 years; and if he will express these figures as a percentage of the average industrial wage over the same period.

I am circulating in the OFFICIAL REPORT tables comparing the average weekly salary of a staff nurse and ward sister in a general and a psychiatric hospital respectively with the average earnings of manual workers, male and female, in the manufacturing and certain other industries. The figures are not strictly comparable because information is not available about the average amounts earned by nurses by way of extra payments. As present these take the form of special duty payments for night and week-end duty, which account for about 4·8 per cent, of the salary bill for hospital nurses and, in psychiatric hospitals, payments for overtime where appropriate.

In spite of the Report of the Prices and Incomes Board, is it not a fact that young people contemplating entering the nursing profession find that, compared with other opportunities, the career structure and the remuneration are far less attractive? Is there not an urgent need to adjust this imbalance?

As I said in answer to an earlier Question, we are very conscious of the urgent need to look into the nurses' recent pay claim. I cannot add to what I said earlier.

Is my hon. Friend aware that right hon. and hon. Members on both sides of the House are very concerned at the very low pay which members of the nursing profession are receiving and that the House demands some action to enable them to enjoy the standards which they deserve?

I am very conscious of the strong feeling among not only hon. Members on both sides of the House but

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what recent advances have been made in the treatment of schizophrenia with special reference to the development of biochemical remedies.

In the past few years long-acting preparations of tranquillizing drugs have been developed which are of value in the treatment of schizophrenia. Possible biochemical causes of schizophrenia continue to be investigated, but I am advised that there are as yet no developments which suggest that a specific biochemical treatment is effective.

Could the hon. Gentleman be specific on two points: first, about the investigations into the Hoffer and Osmond Niacin treatment; second, about the use of injections instead of pills to cut the readmittance rate for discharged schizophrenic patients?

I am aware of the experiments of Hoffer and Osmond in the use of Niacin, but I am advised that the results are unproved. However, this drug is available freely under the National Health Service. As regards injections, the position is that drugs of a type which have been used orally for a long time are now available in injection form. They can be much more effective because they guarantee that the patient receives the drug, and they prevent patients relapsing in a much higher proportion of cases than previously.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what action he is taking on the representations made to him by the National Health Service Executive Council for North-East London about the decline in pharmaceutical services serving the National Health Service in North-East London.

The North-East London Executive Council advocated a planned distribution of pharmacies. As my right hon. Friend indicated in his reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Dagenham (Mr. Parker) on 17th November, the first report of a committee set up by the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain to consider the introduction of a measure of control over the location of pharmacies is receiving consideration in my Department.—[Vol. 791, c. 195.]

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will introduce legislation enabling him to pay a special allowance to the severely disabled who live at home in respect of telephones used by them and of any special mechanisms supplied by the Post Office to enable the disabled to use the telephone.

Where a telephone is an essential need for a person receiving supplementary benefits, whose resources are otherwise insufficient, the Supplementary Benefits Commission may use its general discretionary powers to provide additional benefit for the purpose; and local welfare authorities have powers which enable them to assist in the provision of telephones for people who are substantially and permanently handicapped.

The problem which I had in mind is that of the person not receiving supplementary benefit, and particularly the disabled wife who has not paid contributions into the National Insurance Scheme and, therefore, is not eligible. Will the hon. Gentleman give urgent attention to the problem with a view to helping these people?

I shall look into the question of whether any more can be done, but it is difficult to see how it could be done through the Supplementary Benefits Commission, which is concerned with people with a certain minimum income.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what action he now proposes to take concerning dental anaesthesia following his consultations with the British Dental Association.