Disability Living Allowance reform – public consultation - closes 14th February 2011 extended to 18th Feb 2011
Disability Living Allowance reform
PDF version
Rich text format
- RTF version – Disability Living Allowance reform (331KB) RTF
Easy read
How to respond to this consultation
Start date: 6 December 2010
Closing date: 14 February 2011 extented close now 18th February 2011.
Please ensure your response reaches us by that date.
We have listed the main questions we would like you to respond to at the end of the introduction of the consultation document. You are, however, free to respond to any part of the consultation document.
You can respond by post and email as follows.
DLA Reform Team
1st Floor
Caxton House
Tothill Street
London
SW1H 9NA
PDF version Today the Minister for Disabled People, Maria Miller, asked disabled people and their organisations to join the debate on reforming Disability Living Allowance – a vital part of the welfare system.
As part of the radical overhaul of the welfare state, Disability Living Allowance needs to better reflect disabled peoples’ needs and extra costs they might incur in society today.
The proposals set out in the consultation are centred on creating a clearer, more targeted benefit, with an objective assessment, designed to enable disabled people to participate more fully in society. To mark this important change, Disability Living Allowance will now be known as Personal Independence Payment, and will continue to be paid to people in and out of work.
Reform of this benefit needs to follow a social rather than medical model based on a person’s needs and the barriers they face rather than their individual disability.
Currently almost 3 million people receive this benefit at a forecast cost of £12 billion per year – the Department’s second most expensive working age benefit and far in excess of the initial estimated costs.
Minister for Disabled People, Maria Miller said:
"We want the views of disabled people to be fully reflected in any change we make to DLA and we remain fully committed to the principles of DLA as a non-means tested cash benefit to assist with the extra costs incurred by disabled people.
"The entire welfare system has grown unwieldy and out of control and we need to make sure that money goes to the right people in the most effective and sustainable way.
"Rather than being a poorly targeted and unsustainable benefit, DLA needs to help disabled people live independently and help meet the cost of the barriers that they face in day-to-day life."
The main areas for reform within the consultation are:
- Simplification: the current system has grown too complex and its purpose is misunderstood
- Assessment: the current assessment can be subjective and there is no systematic way of regularly checking that an award remains correct
- Employment: DLA can act as a barrier to work rather than enabling people to live independent lives.
Notes to Editors:
The published consultation can be found at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/consultations/2010/dla-reform.shtml
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/newsroom/press-releases/2010/dec-2010/dwp171-10-061210.shtml
Who's effected http://benefits.tcell.org.uk/forums/dwp-quarterly-statistics-dla and http://benefits.tcell.org.uk/forums/disabilty-living-allowance-statitics-main-disabling-condition
New medical test for DLA http://benefits.tcell.org.uk/forums/new-medical-test-dla
and for related information http://benefits.tcell.org.uk/forums-keywords/benefits/disability-living-allowance-dla
Also linked in DWP reform consultation are http://benefits.tcell.org.uk/forums/universal-credit-welfare-works-government-white-paper and http://benefits.tcell.org.uk/forums/new-commission-funding-care-and-support-setup-consultation-closes-28th-january-2011#comment-15628
http://benefits.tcell.org.uk/forums/westminster-hall-debate-disability-allowance
A Report on Benefit Reform Proposals by the Coalition Government
A cap is to be introduced on the total amount of benefit a household is eligible to receive, though most disabled people will be exempt from the proposals, the Chancellor has announced.
George Osborne made the announcement, along with the heavily trailed news that child benefit would be scrapped for higher rate tax payers, during his speech to the Conservative Party conference.
Under the plans, the total amount that can be received by a household from Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income Support, Employment Support Allowance, Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit, Child Benefit and Child Tax Credit will be limited to the average take-home pay for working households.
Carer’s Allowance and Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit will also be included in the cap, estimated to be set at around £500 per week in 2013 when the changes will be implemented.
The Treasury has said that all claimants of DLA will be exempt from the cap.
The limit will be set according to this very simple principle: Unless they have disabilities to cope with, no family should get more from living on benefits than the average family gets from going out to work,” the Chancellor said.
“No more open ended chequebook. A maximum limit on benefits for those out of work, set at the level that the average working family earns.
“Money to families who need it - but not more money than families who go out to work. That is what the British people mean by fair - and we will be the first Government in history to bring it about.”
http://www.disabilitynow.org.uk/latest-news2/osborne-exemption-on-benefi...
Nearly half a million disabled people could lose their Disability Living Allowance according to a leading disability rights charity.
Using direct analysis of Government figures published as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR), Disability Alliance calculates that 400,000 people would be taken off the benefit by the implementation of new assessment procedures.
In addition, the charity believes that thousands more would have to lose their entitlement to out of work benefits if Government savings targets of £2 billion are to be met.
Meanwhile, other charities reacted negatively to announcements contained in the Government’s Welfare Reform white paper published in November.
Richard Hawkes, Chief Executive of Scope (the charity which publishes Disability Now) said: “The fact remains that disabled people who are able to work, who want to work – are still unlikely to find work because there are so few jobs available.
“This white paper does not address the state of the employment market today, nor take into consideration the reality of people’s lives.
“And worryingly, it plans to introduce a ‘regime of sanctions for those that don’t play by the rules’.”
Chief Executive of mental health charity Rethink, Paul Jenkins, also expressed concern about the emphasis on getting people back to work and the means by which they’ll be assessed.
“The proposed conditions attached to Job Seeker’s Allowance will add to the worries of those who already fear they will be wrongly assessed as fit to work under the new benefits test.
“It is now even more essential that benefits assessments really reflect people’s ability to work in the long-term. Mental illness affects people differently from day to day, and if someone is wrongly found to be fit for work, and put on Job Seeker’s Allowance, they could now be forced to do inappropriate work or lose their benefits. Jobcentre Plus staff tell us that they don’t have mental illness expertise, yet they will decide who to send on these work programmes.”
David Congdon, Head of Campaigns and Policy at Mencap focused on the likely impact on people with learning difficulties of proposals to time limit unemployment benefits.
“We are very concerned that punitive measures such as benefit withdrawal will adversely impact people with a learning disability. Failure to find employment does not necessarily reflect an ‘unwillingness to cooperate’, but is more likely to be as a result of employer prejudice and a lack of support.
“On average it takes more than a year for someone with a learning disability to be ‘work ready’ and find employment.
“There must be a more flexible and personalised approach to helping people into the job market rather than this one size fits all approach.”
http://www.disabilitynow.org.uk/latest-news2/news-focus/400-000-could-lo...
Background
This consultation seeks your views on the Government‘s proposals to replace Disability Living Allowance (DLA) with a new benefit – Personal Independence Payment. The Personal Independence Payment will continue to be a non-means tested, extra costs benefit.
The Personal Independence Payment, is scheduled to be introduced in 2013/14, when the DWP will begin reassessing the working age (16-64 year olds) caseload. The Government is also considering whether to reassess children and people aged over 65.
Personal Independence Payment will have two components- mobility component, based on a person’s ability to get around and daily living component, based on a person’s ability to carry out other key activities necessary to participate in everyday life.
Other features of the new benefit:
- claimants will have to qualify for the benefit for a period of six months and be expected to continue to qualify for a further six months before an award can be made.
- there are no automatic entitlements, apart from special rules for people who are terminally ill.
- decisions will be based on the impact of the impairment or health condition, rather than basing the decision on the health condition or impairment itself
- the new benefit will take greater account of aids and adaptations.
- there will be a periodic review all awards
- claimants will still be responsible for reporting changes that occur between reviews
- there will be penalties if a claimant knowingly fails to report a change that would have resulted in a reduction in benefit.
- signposting of claimants to other support such as the opportunity to discuss their health condition or impairment with an appropriate professional.
- review of how the new benefit will passport claimants to other benefits
- consideration of how the benefit interacts with other forms of support, such as adult social care
- the role of the independent healthcare professional is seen as crucial to the new assessment
“7. Key to the benefit will be an objective assessment of individual need, which we are developing in collaboration with a group of independent specialists in health, social care and disability, including disabled people. The new assessment will focus on an individual’s ability to carry out a range of key activities necessary to everyday life. We will gather information from the individual, as well as healthcare and other professionals who work with and support them. We also believe that advice from an independent healthcare professional should be an important part of the new process. In most cases, we envisage that this will involve a face-to-face meeting with an independent healthcare professional, allowing an in-depth analysis of an individual’s circumstances.”
The consultation applies to England, Wales and Scotland.
Closing date for responses
The closing date for responses is 14 February 2011.
How to Respond
You can download this consultation and find out more information about how to respond to it from the DWP website link below.
What next?
Responses from this consultation will inform secondary legislation on the detailed design of the benefit, including requirements for the new assessment.
More information
Maria Miller (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Disabled People), Work and Pensions; Basingstoke, Conservative)
I am publishing today "Disability Living Allowance reform", a formal public consultation on our proposed reforms to disability living allowance (DLA).
We are already undertaking large-scale reform of the welfare system, for example the universal credit and our flagship Work programme. Our welfare reforms are designed to protect people in the most vulnerable situations, including disabled people. We remain steadfast in our support for the principles of DLA, as a non-means-tested cash benefit contributing to the extra costs incurred by disabled people.
However, DLA has not been fundamentally reformed since it was introduced in 1992. We now have a disability benefit which is confusing for individuals to understand, based on unclear criteria and often results in inconsistent awards, and since 1992, both the case load and the cost of DLA have grown to a level that is unsustainable. Changes to DLA are long overdue and must address questions of fairness and value, while supporting disabled people to lead independent lives. We must ensure DLA better reflects the needs of disabled people today, rather than in the 1990s, and that it enables support to be targeted to those with the greatest need.
This is why I want to bring disability benefits into the 21st century by replacing DLA with a new benefit-personal independence payment. This is an opportunity to improve the support for disabled people and enable them to lead full, active and independent lives. Personal independence payment will maintain the key principles of DLA, but it will be delivered in a fairer, more consistent and sustainable manner. It is only right that support should be targeted at those disabled people who face the greatest challenges to leading independent lives and this reform is required to enable that, along with a clearer assessment process.
The consultation document sets out our proposals and seeks responses from disabled people and disability organisations. The document covers:
The need for reform, including the rising case load and expenditure and what we believe is wrong with the current benefit;
Our proposals for reform including the new objective assessment, taking into account aids and adaptations, eligibility criteria, the treatment of children and over 65s, and signposting claimants to support to help them manage their condition; and
How we envisage the benefit being delivered, including the benefit's role as a passport to other support and integration with other support, such as adult social care.
We welcome views from across Great Britain on the DLA proposals, conceived within the framework of a 21st century welfare system that is efficient, effective and above all fair.
Copies of the consultation paper are available in the Vote Office, and will be available shortly at http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/menu/cmd2010.htm.
The consultation period will be from 6 December to 14 February 2011. I will make a further statement regarding the response shortly after the consultation period ends.
My initial comments.
With regard to the above consultation, I submit.
- That the condition or servity of illness/disabilty causes different effects upon the indivdiual, some can be more noticeable than others. Treatment issues, poverty, It is also about the situation of the person e.g. working/or not. It is also about public persecption/image/oppertunities and choices.
- ....
- If a person is on state benefits of ICB, IS or other state benefit, DLA helps address the cost of living independantly e.g. gas/electric, travel, food, communication, clothing, bedding, cleaning materials etc.
- I suggest YES to this question. What the rates are to be and how the DWP will convert from old to new will be open to question?, given the reponse within the consulation of the complexity and the different SDA rates a new approach, understanding is acceptable for ease of implimentation and support. Disadvantages ?
- I suggest that the automatic rights listed under impairments, discriminates against the other conditions such as HIV/AIDS, Cancer, Parkinsons etc. and to comply with UK legaliastion this needs to be addressed to be more encompassing if it wishes to proceed on this line of approach. Alternativalty the system could set up a standard level of benefit for all of the different conditions. This would be donein dicussion with professional/charities/professional and disbaled people. Condition and treatment should also be taken into consideration.
- Create a main disabiling condition tick box, were the condition is disclosed, this is then treated with priority and condition in mind, e.g. 6 months to live. Income notification.
- This relies upon medical training of those making decisions and a understanding of the conditions which will flucate. Information to be colated by professionals/charities and disabled people.
- None and No. e.g. someone who has a mobility stand to stand needs to keep hold to stabilize, how does some administor a task losing grip of a device to support, this also distracts from the additional support needed, which LA could use to get out of their responsabilities.
- http://www.cpag.org.uk/cro/wrb/wrb166/dla.htm is anything to go by, NO. Also given some 10m people are disbaled within the UK and DLA only support some 3m+, answer that? List pre-condition tick box for summary/consideration.
- Relative consultant or GP.
- Depending upon the training and information available might cause problems, given the wide ranging conditions that will apply, how will the DWP ensure the information is given to an appointment proffessional? Qualifications etc. Condition on the day.
- 2 years standard and 5/7 years for indefinelty
- ....
- ....
- The current system of DLA by main disabling condition lets us know the types of people applying, successful with applications with DLA, this imbalance could be addressed by using this data.
- Aids and adaptions can be meet through DSF, OT and other Governement grants means which has a seperate budget allocation. Charities and voluntary organsitions have funds to provide additional support when the state feels it should not provide.
- Condition, life expectancy, family situation, poverty, support needs.
- DLA increases the SDA which raises income and helps address some of the additional cost that arise, in real terms is the current amount paid in line with current costs/CPI/RPI.
- As the current system stands it would denied people from community services and the ILF. Given the number on DLA and the numbers supported by the ILF, the system is failing!
- LA accept DLA/PIP as confirmation of condition/support than the independant FACTS criteria.
- Given the imbalance by condition which currently stands http://benefits.tcell.org.uk/forums/dwp-quarterly-statistics-dla should be taken into consideration.
- 6 months life expectancy should be x 2 or 3 of standard rates, DLA could be awarded still but not in payment of income of £250K, a box could be added to the DLA form to suggest a person income and given the public restraints, income over this would not be payable but awarded in kind. Publication of independant person used, qualifications etc. http://www.counselandcare.org.uk/category/policy/pdf/the-real-cost-of-qu... and http://benefits.tcell.org.uk/forums/disabled-peoples-costs-living be considered.
Effect of benefit reforms on disabled people unknown, says minister
Minister for disabled people, Maria Miller, has she does not know how many disabled people will be affected by government plans to reform disability living allowance (DLA), or how much the changes will cost.
The admissions came in an interview with Community Care that followed the publication of plans to replace DLA with a new benefit - personal independence payment - that would have tighter eligibilty criteria.
Miller said: "Because the assessment process hasn’t been finalised we don’t have those figures. You can’t estimate the impact of something until you have finalised it."
The Budget said the government wanted to reduce the number of working-age claimants of DLA - currently 1.8m - by 20%. This would reduce annual expenditure on the client group by a similar proportion, amounting to £1.075bn by 2014-15.
Yesterday’s plans have raised questions among disabled campaigners over exactly how people with different impairments will be affected, and whether the proposed assessment regime will be cost-effective.
But speaking to Community Care, Miller was not able to answer these questions.
"We haven’t yet finalised what the assessment system is. We are working with health care professionals, disability groups and disabled people to establish what the assessment is. We have not finalised that so we are not in a position to cost-out an implementation plan," she said.
Miller restated the government’s commitment to target the benefit at those who needed it most, but said the department had not conducted an analysis of the number of people it believed to be claiming DLA inappropriately.
"We absolutely are committed to the role of the benefit in supporting disabled people and we want to make sure this non-means tested cash benefit is there to support disabled people in the way it was intended," she added.
"It’s very disappointing that the Department for Work and Pensions cannot explain why it wants to cut 20% from the disability living allowance budget or estimate how people will lose out," said Neil Coyle, head of policy at Disability Alliance. "For 1.8m working age disabled adults this is a worrying issue and the department's nonchalance is disturbing."
Guy Parckar, acting director of policy and campaigns at Leonard Cheshire Disability, said it was important that policies were well evidenced and clear to enable people to understand them. "It’s an area where the government has to be very sensitive because people are reliant on disability living allowance."
Richard Watts, policy officer at the Essex Coalition for Disabled People, said: "I’m surprised because it felt to me that they do have the numbers." He said the government should be open in the way it had been with its child benefit proposals in which it provided numbers for how many families would lose the benefit.
Miller did reveal that plans to reassess claimants’ eligibility on a periodic basis would be dependent upon their particular conditions or impairmenets.
Coyle said this was an expensive process to enforce for those whose condition was degenerative or had no prospect of changing. He said the individual would incur additional costs in attending a second assessment and the government money spent on assessing could be better used to support more disabled people.
It was also revealed today that the government had underestimated how many people will lose out from plans to remove the DLA mobility component from care home residents who receive public funding. Miller admitted in a parliamentary answer that 80,000 people would be affected, compared with an initial estimate of 60,000, when the policy was announced in October.
Related articles
Disability living allowance claimants to miss out in benefits shake-up
Disabled children could be prevented from seeing families
Disabled people 'face savage onslaught' from benefit cuts
http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2010/12/08/115970/effect-of-bene...
Disability Alliance has created an online questionnaire about the DWP DLA reform, this is available at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/dlareform , this is another option to respond to the consultation, you can still write directly and please feel free to comment under this section with your concerns.
Thank you.
A new report, Counting the Cost, published on 17 December 2010 by the think tank Demos, which is funded by Scope, warns that the reform of disability living allowance will waste government money and fail to provide disabled people with vital support.
The Government proposes to replace disability living allowance (DLA) with a new benefit – Personal Independence Payment (PIP), which will have a new assessment.
The assessment will move people from disability living allowance to the PIP and is set to result in a 20 per cent cut in budget, resulting in hundreds of thousands of disabled people losing access to the benefit.
DLA, and its successor, PIP, are the only benefits specifically designed to contribute towards the extra costs of living with a disability. However, the report, Counting the Cost, highlights serious flaws in the proposed eligibility test for PIP, which could compound disability poverty.
This new assessment will test the functional impact of a person’s disability. Yet, the report finds that the cost of living with a disability could not be accurately measured in this way. Rather, disability-costs are driven by a range of factors, including employment status, housing and transport. This means many disabled people with less complex needs but very high disability-costs will be left without vital support.
The study also found disabled people who claim jobseekers allowance had higher disability costs, despite being medically ‘fit to work’ – groups like this are likely to lose out under the new PIP regime.
http://www.disabilityalliance.org/dlatest2.htm
You can download Counting the Cost at http://www.demos.co.uk/publications/countingthecost
also refer and download http://www.demos.co.uk/publications/destinationunknowndisability
Plans to cut disability benefits could breach human rights laws, the government has been warned.
The government says the changes are designed to streamline the system as well as make cuts of 20%.
"My view is even if its not against the letter of the law, it is against the spirit of the law."
His opinion is backed up by other specialist disability lawyers.
The proposals are part of a consultation process that ends on 14 February.
Thank you to the person who emailed me these links, that I share these, but as always we are not responsible for the information on external websites.
http://benefitclaimantsfightback.wordpress.com/
http://www.arbitraryconstant.co.uk/2010/12/dla-reform-cons.html#comments
“Threatening” new proposals to reform disability living allowance (DLA) are a “slap in the face” for campaigners who have tried to engage with the coalition government, according to a leading disabled people’s organisation (DPO).
In a searing attack on the government’s plans, the National Centre for Independent Living (NCIL) said they hinted at a “hidden agenda” to dismantle the support provided by the key benefit.
Sue Bott, NCIL’s director, said the proposals – launched this week by Maria Miller, the minister for disabled people – gave the impression that “virtually no-one is going to be entitled to the new benefit”.
She said the consultation document was “vague”, “rushed”, “half-hearted”, “full of contradictions” and disguised the government’s “hidden agenda”.
She said: “It comes across as the agenda is to abandon DLA entirely and to put in its place a dubious benefit that is not going to achieve the outcomes DLA has been achieving, and very few people will be entitled to.”
Bott said that proposals to take greater account of how people use aids such as wheelchairs, while removing eligibility from those “who don’t get support from anywhere else”, felt like “heads you lose, tails you lose”.
She said: “It just seems naive in the extreme, saying you have a wheelchair so you don’t have any mobility issues. I just don’t get it.”
Bott also warned that disabled people were losing trust in the new coalition government.
She said Miller had given the impression of “listening” to DPOs and attempting to understand DLA and the issues around it.
But she added: “What I was expecting in the consultation was not wholesale reform of DLA – because I think DLA works pretty well – but trying to improve assessment and trying to get better consistency of decision-making.”
She said it was clear that Miller’s views had been “over-ridden” by the Treasury, and added: “I think people will feel justifiably very, very angry.”
Neil Coyle, director of policy for Disability Alliance (DA), said it was “astonishing” that the proposals failed to mention the government’s intention to cut spending on DLA by 20 per cent by 2016.
He said there was no need for the new system and the associated costs of implementation, assessment and appeals.
He said: “The combined effects of the government agenda for DLA risks meaning disabled people are unable to participate, less likely to work and more likely to live in poverty.”
Coyle was also critical of the government’s decision to allow just 10 weeks for the public consultation – over the holiday period – rather than the usual 12.
DA has launched its own DLA consultation, which will examine disabled people’s needs and the “potential risks” of the government’s plans.
Anne Kane, policy manager for Inclusion London, said the consultation document was clearly setting out how the government would cut the number of people claiming DLA by 20 per cent, which was “bound to increase levels of poverty”.
She said: “The way they are doing it is very severe. This is effectively a proposal to abolish DLA and replace it with something else.”
Marije Davidson, RADAR’s public affairs manager, said there were “a lot of concerns about the proposals” but also many unanswered questions, such as how the government planned to cut DLA spending.
She added: “What is important to us is that if we have a new assessment, it should be less bureaucratic, with less red tape.”
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said it was unable to comment in depth on the criticisms before the end of the consultation.
But a DWP spokesman said there would be a series of meetings with “stakeholders” in January, while the government had already consulted informally with disabled people and disability organisations.
And he said the new assessment was being produced in “co-production” with specialists in health, social care and disability, including disabled people.
Meanwhile, the government has admitted that 20,000 more people will be affected by the decision to remove the mobility component of DLA from most disabled residents of care homes.
Miller said the government now estimated that 80,000 people – rather than 60,000 – would be affected by the measure, which is set to be introduced in October 2012.
The figures were updated after the government received new information about care home residents who entered residential care before 1998.
The DBC welcomes the opportunity for considered debate on the future of DLA. However, despite the significance of the consultation and its potential impact on disabled people, we are very disappointed that the Department for Work and Pensions decided to run such a short – 9 week – consultation period, which was also spread over the Christmas holiday. This is 3 weeks short of the recommended time frame outlined in Government guidance and will significantly reduce opportunities for individuals to add their views to the consultation.
The communication needs of many of the disabled people potentially affected by the outcome of the consultation may mean the timeframe prevents adequate and effective engagement of a significant number of the people it will directly affect. It is also disappointing that the Welfare Reform Bill will have been debated in the Commons, and potentially will have reached the Lords, before the consultation period has ended. It will therefore not be possible for the Government to take consultation responses into account as the Bill progresses through the Commons, further reducing the impact and value of the consultation process.
More information
alf of working disability living allowance (DLA) claimants will have to stop working if they are deemed ineligible for the benefit as a result of proposed government cuts, a survey by Disability Alliance has found.
The results were released at the start of a three-day online campaign - One Month Before Heartbreak - against government plans to reform the benefit, which the alliance estimates could see 750,000 people lose support, and other disability cuts.
The government has received criticism that the reforms are primarily motivated by desires to cut the DLA bill regardless of the effect on disabled people.
Today’s figures are the interim findings of a survey to inform the alliance's response to the government’s consultation, which closes on the 14 February.
Neil Coyle, director of policy at Disability Alliance, said: “The full range of cuts will considerably impact upon disabled people but the DLA reform is particularly dangerous as it could lead to considerably higher state costs – to the NHS, councils and in lost tax contributions.”
The survey also revealed disabled people's fears about the cuts. “I would have to consider suicide as a serious possibility,” said one respondent. “DLA makes the difference between having a tiny little bit of independence and life not being worth living.”
Another respondent said: “If I lost my DLA my illness would get stronger and I would eventually starve and be put back in my mental health hospital again for my own well being."
“If my DLA was reviewed again I don't think I would have the will to live anymore,” added another.
Coyle said he was extremely concerned that the government’s plans had led to disabled people considering their own self-worth.
One Month Before Heartbreak is organised by The Broken of Britain - a grassroots disability body set up to campaign against the cuts. It is calling on disabled people and others to post blogs opposing the changes.
Community Care is awaiting a response from the Department for Work and Pensions.
Related articles
Ministers' justification for disability benefit cut 'false'
Providers: 'Cuts to disabled mobility benefit will leave people with £14 a week' #ombh
Labour: 'Government isn't honest on disabiltiy benefit reform' #ombh
http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2011/01/14/116108/disability-ben...
The link between disability and poverty is well established. High levels of unemployment and unstable and low paid employment means disabled people are more likely to live below the poverty threshold and be dependent on benefits as a proportion of their income. Increased unemployment and a range of welfare and public service cuts following the economic downturn has only exacerbated the situation, with disability benefit claimants set to lose £9 billion in benefits over the course of the next Parliament.
Yet disability poverty is a dual phenomenon, driven by lower incomes and higher costs. In what Amartya Sen called the ‘conversion disadvantage’, many disabled people need to spend more than nondisabled people to achieve the same standard of living.
Counting the Cost argues that the Government could reduce disability poverty more effectively, and for larger numbers of people, by reducing costs rather than increasing income. Disability costs are not solely generated by factors government cannot change such as impairment, condition or age. They are driven by a range of environmental factors which, with the right intervention, could reduce disability costs significantly.
To download for free http://www.demos.co.uk/publications/countingthecost
There has been inspirational support for the recent "blog swarm" campaign organised by The Broken of Britain, a disability rights group. The One Month Before Heartbreak weekend encouraged disabled bloggers, carers, tweeters and concerned onlookers to come together for three days of blogosphere frenzy in an attempt to highlight the unthinkable pressure being piled upon physically and mentally ill people through a range of cuts that leave us breathless and terrified. The consultation on changes to the disability living allowance (DLA) ends on 14 February and the event hoped to raise as much awareness of the proposals as it could.
Petition the Minister for Disabled People to Recall the Public Consultation on DLA Reform
We, the undersigned, urge the Minister for Disabled People to recall the Public Consultation on Disability Living Allowance (DLA) reform, and to cease work on reform of this benefit, due to serious flaws in the consultation paper. As such, the consultation questions are deeply skewed and any answers will be likely to support wholesale reform. This is both unfair and unwise, and will cause hardship for many disabled people.
The case for reform has been criticized, and then completely demolished, by the various disability rights groups fighting reform. They accuse the DWP of building their argument without sufficient evidence. The claims that DLA can act as a barrier to work, in particular, are robustly questioned. Questions are also raised concerning the accuracy of the representation of supporting data. For example, the claim is made that DLA claims have risen by 30% in eight years - without accounting for population growth of 5% in this period, a pronounced demographic shift, and increased awareness of DLA.
Most devastating to the case for reform is the critique of proposed amendments, leading one to ask whether augmenting DLA might not be a better, cheaper way of improving employment opportunities, rather than launching an entirely new benefit. It would seem that the costs of such rebranding are only justified when savings are made by cutting the DLA caseload by 20%. This figure is, in and of itself, questionable – how is it possible to know that this many people can be removed?
The Personal Independence Payment (PIP) appears to be a case of cuts dressed as positive reform. Disability rights groups and charities have uniformly condemned the proposals, warning of dire consequences. The list of those affected includes: people who are mobile with aids; people with disabilities so severe that they are unable to be very active; care home residents; those who receive local authority care packages. Most other disabled people will suffer through needless reassessments upon the introduction of PIP, and re-testing every few years even when a condition cannot be treated.
There is a strong feeling amongst people with disabilities that the Coalition Government have declared war on us, with a continual ratcheting of pressure on us since the Emergency Budget in June 2010. Announcements on Employment and Support Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, and Disability Living Allowance have made us feel that the Government is scapegoating us and removing the support on which we depend. Iain Duncan-Smith’s comments to The Sun newspaper [01/12/2010) suggesting that Incapacity Benefit claimants were partly to blame for a large fiscal deficit caused by a recession, a bail-out of the banks and quantitative easing. Whilst there may be ways to improve DLA, they do not involve replacing it with a new benefit, and neither do they involve removing anyone from the claimant caseload.
http://www.petitiononline.co.uk/petition/petition-the-minister-for-disab...
DA has provided DWP with an interim ‘holding’ response seeking further information on Government plans and answers to several questions – as well as analysis of the first 900 survey responses we have received. Our survey remains open for one more week and we will be responding in full to the Government consultation on 14th February.
You can download the interim response from the links below.
More information
- da interim consultation response on dla reform
The coalition Government has revealed several significant changes to the support available to disabled people and their families since May 2010. Announcements by the Chancellor amount to £18 billion cuts to the welfare budget. Disabled people are more reliant on benefits and other public services than other citizens and are increasingly anxious of the impact of the cuts.
Disability Alliance [1] has been surveying disabled people’s views on Government reforms to Disability Living Allowance (DLA) in particular [2]. With 900 responses analysed, the most shocking finding is that:
9% of disabled people and their families fear the Government cuts will cause death, suicide and make lives ‘not worth living’
Neil Coyle, Disability Alliance Director of Policy, says:
“Disabled people are telling us in great numbers that they fear the overall cuts – but that losing Disability Living Allowance in particular has resulted in people questioning the value of their lives”.
Our survey [3] also reveals that:
- over 800,000 disabled people could lose support if the £1 billion target for DLA cuts is realised;
- 13% said cuts will increase their NHS use with further demand also on cash-strapped councils;
- 25% of our respondents are in work but half fear having to quit if they lose access to support;
- half our respondents believe DLA does not meet extra disability-related costs of living – and a third report it is ‘difficult’ or ‘very difficult’ to get by before cuts are implemented; and
- two-thirds of our respondents use DLA to link to other support (eg bus passes, council tax benefit and Carer’s Allowance) and fear that the Government plans will have a ‘domino effect’ which will significantly increase poverty and social exclusion for disabled people and their families.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Minister for Disabled People, Maria Miller MP, confirmed in December 2010 that the Government plans include a 20% cut in DLA expenditure [4]. But the DWP has not yet provided estimates on the number of disabled people and their families who could lose access to support as a result of DLA reform. Nor do the Government plans outline the potential costs to the NHS, Treasury or councils of the current proposals – despite a Welfare Reform Bill being due in mid-February.
Neil Coyle says:
“The proposed changes to disabled people’s support may result in higher costs to the NHS, councils and the Treasury – for hospital treatment, increasing need for residential care and through disabled people and carers being forced to give up work. These potential costs must be examined by the Government before legislation is published in February. Failure to analyse current proposals fully risks a catastrophic explosion of costly demands in the longer-term”.
Notes for editors
[1] Disability Alliance is a UK charity with the aim of breaking the link between poverty and disability. Further information on us is available at: www.disabilityalliance.org
[2] DLA reform was announced in June – with a new medical test and a 20% cut in expenditure. The Government began consulting in December 2010 and plans include: abolishing DLA for working age adults (and potentially children and older people at a later date); introducing a new benefit (the Personal Independence Payment: PIP); but cutting the level of support the PIP will provide. – see: www.dwp.gov.uk/consultations/2010/dla-reform.shtml for further information on the Government proposals.
[3] The Disability Alliance survey is available at: www.disabilityalliance.org/dlatest.htm and runs to 10th February 2011. Our interim report on the findings are available at: www.disabilityalliance.org/dlareform.htm
[4] See: www.ablemagazine.co.uk/exclusive-interview-maria-miller-mp-on-the-dla-consultation/
DLA reforms lead disabled people ‘to question value of their own lives’
Disabled people are beginning to “question the value of their own lives” because of government plans to slash spending on disability living allowance (DLA), according to a new survey.
Disability Alliance (DA) has released the latest results from a survey on the coalition government’s reforms, which include plans to cut spending on DLA for working-age people by 20 per cent.
The disability poverty charity believes more than 800,000 disabled people are likely to lose their DLA because of the reforms.
Nearly one in ten of those who took part in the survey – most of whom were disabled people or carers – said death or suicide were possible outcomes of disabled people losing their DLA.
One said: “I would not be able to go to work, I would not be able to see my family or friends. Therefore I would not want to live.”
Another said: “It would add an extra burden on me which I know I couldn't cope with. I would probably have to think about ending it all.”
Neil Coyle, DA’s director of policy, said: “Disabled people are telling us in great numbers that they fear the overall cuts – but that losing DLA in particular has resulted in people questioning the value of their lives.”
So far, 13 per cent of those questioned believe cutting DLA would actually cost the government money, through higher costs for the NHS and local authorities, with Coyle warning of a potential “catastrophic explosion of costly demands in the longer-term”.
Half of respondents said their DLA did not provide enough money to live on because of their disability-related costs.
One said: “I could not survive and would end it all as all my family are in difficult financial circumstances and I would have no-one to help.”
DA has submitted an interim response to a government consultation on the reforms – including an analysis of the first 900 survey responses – because it fears the new welfare reform bill could be debated by MPs before the government has had time to respond to its consultation, which closes on 14 February.
A Department for Work and Pensions spokeswoman said the government was “absolutely committed” to protecting DLA and was “working with Disability Alliance and other organisations to make sure that the needs of disabled people continue to be met”.
She said: “We need to reform DLA to ensure that the £12 billion we spend on it makes the most difference and that people can rely on it for years to come. No final decisions have been taken.”
Disabled People: Disability Living Allowance
Question
2.58 pm
Tabled By Baroness Gardner of Parkes
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether individuals currently receiving disability living allowance who have invested money and payments in aids and adaptations will be disadvantaged as a result of the proposals in chapter two of the consultation paper on disability living allowance reform published in December 2010.
Baroness Gardner of Parkes: My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name, and I declare an interest as I have disabled family members.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord Freud): My Lords, the proposed assessment for personal independence payment is not intended to disadvantage individuals but to ensure that the benefit is focused on those who are least able to live independent lives. We therefore think it right that it takes greater account of the successful use of aids and adaptations than DLA does. We know that this is a complex issue, and that is why we are consulting on this point.
Baroness Gardner of Parkes: My Lords, I thank the Minister for that reply and I am aware of the consultation. Under item 27 of the consultation, it would appear that those who have used their DLA to improve their lot might be disadvantaged. I would like him to agree with me that it is very important to encourage people to help themselves and remain useful members of society and that no perverse incentive should be brought into this process.
Lord Freud: It gives me pleasure to say that that is the exact purpose of this assessment. We want to make sure that the money that we do have is well directed to supporting people to have independent lives. It would clearly be perverse if people were supported to live an independent life and that support was then removed when they still needed it. I cannot envisage that that situation would develop.
Baroness Campbell of Surbiton:My Lords, will the Minister tell us how the Government expect to achieve the projected savings of £1 billion by 2015 when the highly regarded disability charity Disability Alliance
7 Feb 2011 : Column 8
estimates that 823,000 disabled people will lose vital DLA support in order for the Government to meet that target?
Lord Freud: My Lords, as the noble Baroness pointed out, the target is to reduce the spending on DLA by 20 per cent by 2014-15. But that is against a projection of a benefit that is, frankly, out of control. The actual figure in that year will basically come down to the level that it was in 2009-10, which is just below the £12 billion mark.
Baroness Hollis of Heigham: My Lords, the consultation paper proposes that the three rates of DLA should be so-called "simplified" into two rates, which presumably implies-as the noble Baroness, Lady Campbell, suggested-the scrapping of the lower rate of DLA care. Lower-rate DLA care goes to those with significant need of help or supervision. Does the Minister agree with the noble Baroness that if the Government go ahead with that, it will take almost £900 million-nearly £1 billion-out of the incomes of disabled people, some of whom are among the poorest in this country? Is that what he means by saying that we are all in it together?
Lord Freud: My Lords, I disagree entirely with that premise. The personal independence payment is a new assessment of people's needs and is designed to help people to live independent lives and to give them mobility. To that extent there can be no presumption about what is happening to existing rates. We will set these rates based on people's requirements to live independent lives.
Lord German: My Lords, it seems to me that the consultation paper can be read in one of two ways. Can the Minister can tell us whether the purpose of the PIP is to extend the level of adaptations and aids that will be available to people-to facilitate greater access and ensure that everyone who needs the payment can get it?
Lord Freud: My Lords, I can respond to that question positively in the sense that times have moved on: adaptations and aids have moved on since the DLA was introduced, and we are looking at a different environment in which people can be helped to live pretty normal lives with those adaptations. It is important that we have an assessment process and a personal independence payment that reflect what is really happening to people's lives.
Baroness Wilkins:My Lords, does the Minister agree that the extra costs related to lack of mobility are far wider than just moving around-not least the need for extra heating, the extra wear and tear on clothes and the need to employ others to do decoration or repairs in the house and to look after the garden? How does this make the provision of aids relevant in the assessment of extra costs?
Lord Freud:My Lords, the noble Baroness is right that we need to have a pretty broad view on what mobility implies. One of the big differences between
7 Feb 2011 : Column 9
the personal independence payment and DLA is that the personal independence payment looks at the person's ability to plan and execute a journey, not just at their physical capacity. One of the big differences with the personal independence payment is that it puts a lot more emphasis on mental competences compared with physical ones, or it raises those competences in relative terms. Many of those adaptations are clearly for physical requirements; others, the ones to meet mental requirements, will be taken much more into account.
Lord Rix: My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Hollis, has already referred to the statement, "We're all in this together". In that statement, were the Government including the 80,000 people with disabilities living in residential care who are going to lose the mobility component of their DLA, or were the Government simply thinking that such a valuable aid to so many vulnerable people was a total waste of taxpayers' money?
Lord Freud: My Lords, we are taking a very close look at the mobility requirements of people in residential care. The existing arrangements are pretty patchy; the payments are used for different purposes in different places and are often pooled in a way that they are not designed for, in a very complex regulatory framework. We will be looking very closely, as part of the consultation exercise, at what the best form of support should be for people in residential care in this way.
Lord McKenzie of Luton: My Lords, following on from that question, has the Minister read the evidence in the report from 27 leading disability groups entitled, Don't Limit Mobility? The report points out that mobility needs tend to be factored into care packages only to meet specific needs in the community care assessment and not generally to meet individuals' personal mobility needs. Do the Government therefore accept that the proposal to withdraw the mobility component of DLA for those in residential care because of double funding is based on a false premise, is simply wrong and should be withdrawn?
Lord Freud: My Lords, I have indeed read with great interest that particular piece of research. We are talking to the lobby about it and are very interested in some of the data behind it. We are in the process now of collecting a lot of information about what is really happening. It is a very fragmented area in terms of regulatory support and practice, and when we have that information I will be very pleased to share it with the House.
Disability Living Allowance reform consultation: a response from the Social Security Advisory Committee
Government’s response to the consultation on Disability Living Allowance reform..
Disability living allowance claimants to miss out in benefits shake-up
Disability living allowance will be scrapped and replaced by a benefit with tighter eligibility criteria, under government plans announced today.
DLA's replacement – personal independence payment – will be a non-means-tested and non-taxable benefit, available to people in and out of work, like its predecessor.
However, the reforms will tighten eligibility in several ways:
• Claimants will have to have had an impairment or health condition for six months, not three, as at present.
• A wider range of aids and adaptations will be taken into account in the assessment process, meaning that people who can get about in wheelchairs may be ineligible.
• There will no longer be automatic entitlements for people with specific health conditions.
• All claimants will be assessed by a healthcare professional approved by the Department for Work and Pensions.
The changes are designed to implement proposals in the Budget to reform the assessment system for DLA, in order to reduce expenditure and the number of claimants by 20%.
The existing mobility and care components of the benefits will be replaced by similar measures looking at people's level of independence and ability to carry out the activities necessary to participate in everyday life.
The reforms will be introduced for new and existing claimants of working age from 2013 and could be extended to children or pensioners.
Minister for disabled people Maria Miller said: "Personal independence payment will maintain the key principles of DLA, providing cash support to help overcome the barriers which prevent disabled people from participating fully in everyday life, but it will be delivered in a fairer, more consistent and sustainable manner. It is only right that support should be targeted at those disabled people who face the greatest challenges to leading independent lives."
However, Neil Coyle, director of policy at Disability Alliance, said: "The combined effects of the government agenda for DLA risks meaning disabled people are unable to participate, less likely to work and more likely to live in poverty."
Disability Alliance has begun an investigation into the government's plans for DLA to inform the consultation on the proposals, which closes on 14 February 2011.
http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2010/12/06/115956/dla-claimants-to-miss-out-in-benefits-shake-up.htm