The unkindest cut... Homing in on res care

The announcement by Minister for Disabled People Maria Miller that the Government was to cut the mobility component from the Disability Living allowance paid to people in residential care has been seen by many as not only heartless but fundamentally misguided. Paul Carter and Sunil Peck assess its impact and reaction to it

Cruel, disgusting, nasty and outrageous have been just a few of the reactions to the news that the coalition Government intends to cut the mobility component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for people who live in state-funded residential care.

There will be those who would not quibble with cutting back on public spending given the current economic climate. But it’s hardly credible for politicians to insist that cuts affecting disabled people are tough but fair when they intend to deny an estimated 80,000 people the money they use to pay for Motability vehicles or accessible public transport to go out and about to socialise or go to college or work.

Steven Colley, a care home resident from Essex, says that the mobility component of DLA has changed his life, by allowing him the freedom to integrate into his local community and feel part of society.

“I live in a home with six other people who have daily routines of going out into the community with the support of a staff member. They can all access the community by buses or walk, but I cannot.

“When I got my Motability car it opened the door to a new world for me. I could go out when I liked – to do my shopping, go to shows, watch films at the cinema and go and watch my local football team. I can now attend my Friday social club and this year I was able to book a holiday in Yarmouth for a week, and while I was on holiday I visited different places. I couldn’t have done this without my car.

“My car has changed my life. When my mum and other relatives now see me they can see how happy I am. I have freedom because of my Motability car to do what other people can do. Before I was not happy; I would sit at home watching other people in the home going in and out as they liked. I could only dream about that kind of freedom. Please don’t take my car away from me.”

John from Bristol says proposals to remove the mobility component of the Disability Living Allowance for those in residential care will leave him and thousands like him “trapped and isolated”.

“They just simply haven’t consulted those for whom the policy will have the biggest impact,” he says.

“It’s almost as if they think that if you live in a residential care home all your costs of living are met. This simply isn’t the case. The reality is that month after month making ends meet is a struggle. I don’t know what the future holds for me if these proposals go ahead.”

The changes will mean that disabled people in residential care could be left with just £22 a week to spend on essential items such as toiletries and clothes. When travel costs are factored in, it is not difficult to see how stretched people’s budgets are likely to become.

So while bankers continue to receive huge bonuses and the country loses billions of pounds because of tax avoidance, disabled people remain fearful of a return to the days of being shut away in institutions.

Mark Goldring, chief executive of Mencap said that removing the mobility component of DLA risks taking the country “back to the dark ages, essentially stripping people of control over their lives and leaving them stuck in residential care homes,” while Liz Sayce, chief executive of RADAR, says that the cuts will have a “horrific” impact on the lives of disabled people.

“We strongly refute this cruellest cut that traps thousands of disabled people within the walls of their home and deprives them of their fundamental rights to freedom and family life,” she says.

The coalition Government hasn’t published an Impact Equality Assessment for withdrawing the money, but it’s justifying the plan on the grounds that the cost of people’s personal mobility needs should be covered by their care home.

But the ‘Don’t Limit Mobility’ report, endorsed by 27 disability organisations has found that the coalition Government’s justification is wrong.

It found that none of the 22 care service providers who took part receive local authority funding to pay the transport costs for residents to visit friends, attend college or medical appointments or do voluntary work.

It also found that of more than 100 residents who responded, around 50 of them gave either the majority or their entire DLA mobility component to their care home to contribute towards the cost of a Motability vehicle or for petrol for staff to take them out.

The removal of the mobility component will save central government £140million which represents a small percentage of the sum of £81billion by 2014-15.

But local authorities are already cutting back on support packages for disabled people so it’s inconceivable that they will be able to compensate for the lack of funding from central government.

Baroness Campbell of Surbiton, who has been one of the most vociferous campaigners against withdrawal of mobility component and other current Government cuts told Disability Now that one of her gravest concerns is that local authority spending cuts coupled with a lack of ring-fencing for social care funding is likely to have a significantly disproportionate impact on disabled people. In an interview at the end of 2010 she told us:

“I don’t trust local authorities not to use some of that money to offset some of their major deficits in other public service funding streams. In addition some local authorities still do not know the meaning of independent living and the right to control, so I do not feel they should be completely left to channel the social care money into what they think is in the best interests of local disabled people.”

The withdrawal of the mobility component of DLA from those in residential care also flies in the face of the coalition Government’s pledge to promote control and independence for disabled people.

As Sue Bott, Director of the National Centre for Independent Living, puts it: “The coalition Government’s getting confused about what independent living is about. They think that it’s just about living independently in your home but it’s about having choice and control over how your support needs are met.”

It can only be hoped that the coalition Government’s plan is founded on a misunderstanding of the role and importance of the mobility component of DLA. If so, there’s a chance that ministers will reconsider.

But the coalition Government’s failure to speak out against media reports which equate claiming benefits with cheating and constantly peddling the line that DLA is a barrier to work have left many campaigners pessimistic about the chances of a u-turn.

Baroness Campbell says the proposal was “seriously flawed” and would literally remove people’s mobility.

She says: “Residential care homes are no longer, or should not be, places to hide people away in or to deny them opportunities the rest of us take for granted: independence, choice, access to public life and maybe, for those who can, eventually the possibility of work and independence. Residential care homes are not intended to be prisons. We all enjoy activities outside our homes. It should be no different for those living in residential care homes.

“The DWP argues that the measure would bring care-home residents into line with hospital in-patients, who lose access to the benefit on the same basis. However, the comparison is false. People of working age living in care homes are not in the same position as patients in hospital. In hospital, you are sick and therefore do not need an allowance to go out. Residential care is disabled people’s home and the base from which they go out to engage in education, training, work, leisure, travel, family and social contact. For many, it is a stepping stone to living independently in the community.”