Ask the Experts

How will the new carer’s room allowance work?

Q I am writing to enquire about the new carer’s room allowance announced in the last spending review. Is there any confirmation that this new allowance exists? I would very much appreciate some guidance.  
Rachel Ramsay, by email

Kate Sheehan replies:
There are two principal pieces of legislation on this issue. One, the HB/CTB Circular A25/2010, provides guidance on the Housing Benefits (Amend­ment) regulations 2010. The other, the Rent Officers (Housing Benefit Functions) Amend­ment Order 2010, gives clear guidance on the provision of funding for a non-resident carer’s room.

From 1 April 2011, the new provision will permit the Housing Benefit assess­ment to include an extra bedroom for tenants in the private rented sector who have care provided by some­one who lives elsewhere.

This will apply where a customer or customer’s partner needs overnight care and already has an additional bedroom that is used by a carer or carers for overnight stays as part of caring for the customer or partner.

But conditions will have to be met for the extra allowance to be paid:
•The customer must be a tenant in the private rented sector
•The carer may not live in the tenant’s property but only stay overnight for the purpose of providing care
•Only one extra room is allowed
•A spare bedroom exists that can be used by a carer or team of carers for overnight stays
•The overnight care is only provided for the customer or partner and not for other members of the household, e.g. children or elderly relatives living with tenant.

In order to establish if an extra bedroom can be included in the assessment, local authorities will need to be satisfied that:
•Overnight care is in fact required
•The care is in fact provided on a regular basis
•A bedroom is available for the carer’s use.

Why don’t councils simply enforce parking law?

Q In Oxfordshire, where we live, the local council isn’t challenging people who use disabled bays outside control times, and traffic wardens don’t seem to check Blue Badges. Instead, they’ve gone to the expense of installing pay points that are so close to the ground that it’s hard for able-bodied drivers to use them – an ingenious but expensive ruse. I also read in your magazine that a new badge is to be issued which will be more difficult to forge. Wouldn’t it be a better use of money just to enforce the law? I don’t even mind able-bodied people using disabled bays, as long as disabled people pay less.
Alice Pike, by email

Helen Dolphin of Disabled Motoring UK says:
Most councils outside London seem not to enforce the use of Blue Badges, which is why levels of abuse of the scheme are cited at around 50 per cent. I’d suggest you write to your MP and ask why preventing Blue Badge abuse is not a priority for your authority.

Recent statistics have shown that local authorities are losing £45 million in lost parking revenue through misuse of the scheme, so there’s not only a moral reason to do something but a good business case.

I agree that if a council introduces charges for using its car parks there should be a reduced fee for disabled people, taking into account the additional time taken to load equipment, get around the city, take rest breaks, etc.

As you would have read in Disability Now I successfully used the Equality Act 2010 to get my local authority to change its parking policy to allow Blue Badge holders double the amount of time for the same amount of money. I actually think it should be free of charge, to discourage Blue Badge holders from parking on the street, which is less safe and more likely to cause traffic congestion. The solicitor I used was Martin Harvey at Wake Smith & Tofields. You can contact him on 0114 266 6660 or email martin.
harvey@wake-smith.com if you want to take a case against your council.

Your council is obviously trying to meet the needs of disabled people by putting in low-level machines but that doesn’t help people with disabilities that affect their upper limbs so I hope it has a policy to enable drivers like these to park. As for the new style Blue Badge, it’s going to make it help prevent tampering and forgery but, as you say, only by badges being physically checked will it stop people using badges that don’t belong to them.   

Lose DLA, lose car?

Q I have just read Neil Coyle’s article about DLA (Disability Living Allowance) on page 39 of Disability Now (April 2011). The question this raises is: if I am assessed and lose my DLA (which was awarded for life), would I have to give up my car, or would DLA have to honour the three-year contract with my dealer?
Phil McKuhen, by email

Helen Dolphin adds:
If you currently do not get your DLA award renewed and have a Motability vehicle, then you have to return it to Motability.

Customers are usually given around three months between the cancellation of the allowance and the return-by date, during which the lease can be paid privately, so that there is time available to arrange an alternative car.

I expect this is exactly what will happen when people who are currently on DLA are reassessed as not eligible for PIP. It therefore seems unlikely that any contract would be honoured.