Confusion after mixed messages on res care DLA

Sunil Peck

People living in residential care continue to worry about being able to afford the cost of transport after 2013 as the coalition Government sends out mixed messages about the future of the mobility component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA).

The coalition Government has been facing accusations of callousness since it announced plans to cut the mobility component of DLA for people in residential care last October. But following a vociferous campaign from disabled people and allies, an exchange between David Cameron and Labour leader Ed Miliband during Prime Minister’s Questions on 23 March appeared to indicate a government u-turn.

Asked to explain why he proposed to remove the funding which 80,000 people rely on to cover travel costs, David Cameron said: “The short answer is that we are not”.

His response was at odds with proposals set out in the Welfare Reform Bill.

On hearing David Cameron’s answer to Ed Miliband, Anthony Rew (pictured), who lives in Woodford Court care home, reacted by saying: “That’s brilliant because if they take away the money people like me will not have any money to go out or do anything.”

But when pressed by Ed Miliband to scrap the proposals in the Welfare Reform Bill, Cameron said that the future of the mobility component was subject to a review.

Later that day in the budget, Chancellor George Osborne repeated plans to remove the mobility component. But the date was put back to 2013, a year later than the date announced in the 2010 spending review.

Commenting on the continuing uncertainty, Anthony Rew said: “What I can’t understand is that David Cameron did have a disabled son. He must know what disabled people go through. Surely to god he should understand why this is so important.”

The Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Liam Byrne urged David Cameron to “get a grip of his welfare reform proposals”.

He said: “David Cameron said he was going to save mobility payments for people living in residential care. Now we learn from George Osborne’s budget the Treasury is cutting nearly 50 per cent more than originally planned.”

Neil Coyle, Director of Policy at Disability Alliance, added: “It would be very welcome to have it confirmed that Welfare Reform Bill plans are being withdrawn which would cut help in care homes for 80,000 disabled people and take over two billion pounds from DLA”.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokeswoman said: “The Government has listened to charities and other stakeholders and will no longer remove this payment from October 2012. Instead, we are reviewing the mobility component as part of our wider reforms of DLA.”

But she was unable to say when the review will be complete, how mobility payments will be calculated from 2013 when DLA is replaced by the Personal Independence Payment, or if people in residential care were likely to receive less money.