Peer backs call to halt 'rushed' disability benefit cuts

Published by 24publishing for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Central Government, Communities, Local Government

A crossbench peer who has joined calls from a coalition of charities demanding that the Government halts its scrapping of the Disability Living Allowance (DLA) says the plans risk throwing years of progress into reverse.

Lord Low, former RNIB chairman, was speaking ahead of a debate on the reforms today in the House of Lords, which will see the Government's plans to scrap DLA with a less-generous Personal Independence Payment (PIP) put under further scrutiny.

The Government wants to cut its expenditure on the benefit by 20% and introduce reassessments to ensure the benefit is better targeted.

However, disabled charities - who have formed an alliance to call for a pause on the reforms - say the changes risk "forcing more disabled people into poverty".

A Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) consultation - published only yesterday on the eligibility criteria for PIP - asserts that the caseload under the new benefit would shrink by 500,000 by 2015 - i.e. people no longer being eligible for the benefit.

Crossbench peer Lord Low - who will be calling on the Government to halt its reforms today in the Lords  - says the changes are being "rushed through to meet Treasury targets".

He told the BBC: "The assessment systems for assessing people for the new Personal Independence Payment isn't yet ready. Only yesterday we got the second draft of the criteria. They've still got to be consulted on. This is working process and disabled people don't have confidence the Government is yet ready to deliver an assessment system which will achieve an outcome which is fair to them and takes proper account of disabled peoples' need for a benefit of this kind."

The Government insists that the new benefit will be better targeted and will see some disabled people paid more, and the amount of money being paid out in overpayments will be reduced.

Disabilities minister Maria Miller said there is very clear evidence that some £600 million every year is going out in overpayments.

She told the BBC: "This isn't about fraud. It's a benefit that's 20 years old which never had inbuilt reassessment where 70% of people are receiving it for life. As a result, their condition changes and we have very clear evidence to have reassessment built into the system.

She added: "What's more concerning, is that we know from the same research that more than £190 million is not going out because people's conditions have worsened and that haven't been reassessed. What we're saying with the PIP is that we need a proper benefit that not only has a proper assessment up front using medical professionals but also has a reassessment on an ongoing basis."

She also challenged the claim the Government is cutting expenditure on the benefit by 20%.

She said: "We're not reducing the bill by 20%. What we're trying to do, in these difficult economic times, is make sure the rate of growth doesn't continue to spiral in the way that it has in the past. Actually in the future we will be spending the same on DLA as we were last year."

Lord Low said it was 20% less that it would have been if the system had just be able to carry on like it is.

He added: "We're not against these things being looked at. But we don't believe that the system is ready to carry out a fair assessment yet."