Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect on delayed discharges from acute hospitals of NHS rules on children under the age of three who require bulky medical equipment accessing the mobility component of the disability living allowance.

The Department has made no assessment of the effect on delayed discharges from acute hospitals in relation to children under the age of three who require bulky medical equipment accessing the mobility component of the disability living allowance. The Department for Work and Pensions is responsible for setting the criteria for the disability living allowance, including the mobility component.

The Department of Health does not collect information on children under the age of three who require bulky medical equipment who were subject to delayed discharges from acute hospitals in England in 2015-16.

The Department of Health does not collect information on the average length of stay in hospital was for children aged between three and 16 and under three who require bulky medical equipment in each of the last three years.