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Dementia Sufferers

I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. His points were well made. Of course, I should not do otherwise than join him in his two points of congratulation, and in making the point that more research money is crucial. The other issue that has been touched on today is the 1 per cent. increase in the supporting people budget. An important aspect of the matter is cost shifting between the NHS and social services, and the feeling among local authorities in some parts of the country that their budgets and the money that they get from central Government are for ever shrinking—it is becoming extremely difficult for them to give effective care in people's homes and to support carers of people with dementia. It is crucial that given such resource constraints we ensure that every penny is well spent.