Member News
Any changes to Disability Living Allowance should not increase the dependency of disabled people, says Baroness Gardner of Parkes.
I consider it most important that those disabled people who are making a great effort to cope with life should not find themselves facing a perverse incentive. Any changes to the Disability Living Allowance (DLA) should encourage them to remain active members of society. I am asking this question now as these matters are under active consideration.
The government is presently undertaking a public consultation on the proposed reforms to DLA (closing on February 14, 2011). The recommendation is to replace DLA with a new benefit, Personal Independence Payment (PIP). The new PIP will be granted to individuals who meet the new criteria at assessment.
Point 27 of the government's consultation document needs to be clarified as it seems to propose limiting funds for those who have made the most effort to help themselves.
It is essential that the unintended consequences of any changes do not lead to an increase in disabled people's dependency. Those making an effort to maintain their independence need to be encouraged.
The public consultation states that the assessment for awarding PIP will take into account aids and adaptations the disabled person uses to improve their quality of life. It notes that there have been considerable advances in such aids and adaptations that are available.
At point 27 in the main consultation document, the text appears to imply that disabled people who have made good use of the aids and adaptations available to them to live as independently as they can, will be penalised for making such efforts. It does not mention that such aids and adaptations are, in most cases, currently paid for, maintained in good condition and eventually replaced using funds received through the present DLA benefit.
The government is therefore asked to clarify this position.
Baroness Gardner of Parkes will ask the 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 is a Conservative peer originally from Australia. She stood as a Conservative candidate at two consecutive general elections, in the constituency of Blackburn in 1970 and North Cornwall in 1974.
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