Nicholas Soames, Member of Parliament for Mid Sussex, this week voiced his opposition to Labour’s new plans to scrap disability benefits for the elderly in Mid Sussex. The small print of Labour’s plans to create a National Care Service reveals they will scrap Attendance Allowance and Disability Living Allowance for pensioners to pay for it.

An average £3,400 a year will be snatched away from 2.4 million pensioners – equivalent to a quarter of the average pensioner’s income. In Mid Sussex this would affect 2,120 pensioners – who receive Attendance Allowance, worth an average of £60 a week, and 460 who receive Disability Living Allowance, worth an average of £75 a week.

Attendance Allowance and Disability Living Allowance are based on need; they are not means tested and are intended to cover the extra costs arising from the impact the disability has on the life of the disabled person. The key feature of these benefits is that they can be spent by disabled people how they wish, without restrictions, to best support their individual care needs.

Nicholas Soames said: “Gordon Brown has chosen to penalise one of the most vulnerable groups in our society for the sake of another of his eye-catching announcements. As with every Labour initiative, someone has to pay and, as with many of them, it is once again those who are least able to afford it who will be hit.

“These benefits provide vital support for disabled pensioners, giving them the chance to lead an independent life with the freedom to tailor their care to their needs.

“Of course, we need to do more to help people with their care costs, but it is completely wrong to do so at the expense of disabled pensioners. We will fight against these plans to scrap benefits for the disabled.”

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Notes

PLANS TO SCRAP DISABILITY BENEFITS

First step to a National Care Service: Gordon Brown has said that the free home care package “is just a first step”. He said: “In the New Year we will publish detailed plans for a new National Care Service and I am clear that this will be the first domestic priority of a new Labour Government in the next Parliament” (Daily Mail, 18 November 2009).

£18-£21 billion cost of a National Care Service: After the Labour Party conference, when Gordon Brown first announced his plans for free home care as a the first step to a National Care Service, Conservatives asked how much his plans for a National Care Service would cost. The Department of Health responded: “A National Care Service could cost the State between £18.2 billion and £20.7 billion in 2014, depending on the funding model chosen” (Hansard, 12 October 2009, col. 758W).

Disability benefits to be cut to pay for it: When the Government first launched their Green Paper, Shaping the Future of Care Together, in July, which set out the options for a National Care Service, Health Secretary Andy Burnham said: “The foundation of our proposals is the idea that our existing investment to help people to deal with the costs of care can be better spent by combining investment in social care with disability benefits, particularly attendance allowance. That is at the heart of our proposals today” (Hansard, 14 July 2009, col.162).

Which benefits will be cut? In a speech on 22 October 2009 to the National Children and Adult Services conference, Andy Burnham clarified which benefits will be cut. He said: “One avenue I do want to close down, however, is the debate and controversy over Disability Living Allowance. We recognise that this is an important benefit for disabled people, and I can state categorically that we have now ruled out any suggestion that DLA for under-65s will be brought into the new National Care Service. This is because, whilst there will be increases in the numbers of disabled people of working age who need care, the majority of the people needing care in the future will be older people. However, we do think there may be a case for bringing together elements of some disability benefits, such as Attendance Allowance, with social care funding, to create a new care and support system to provide for the needs of older and disabled people.” Andy Burnham therefore made clear that the benefits at risk are Disability Living Allowance for the over-65s and Attendance Allowance (which is only paid to the over-65s).

ABOUT THESE BENEFITS

What are these benefits? Attendance Allowance is a non-means tested, tax-free benefit for people aged 65 or over who need help with personal care because they are physically or mentally disabled. Disability Living Allowance is a non-means tested, tax-free benefit for children and adults who need help with personal care or have walking difficulties because they are physically or mentally disabled. People would claim either one or the other of these benefits (Directgov website).

How many people receive these benefits? There are 1.6 million people claiming Attendance Allowance and a further 800,000 over-65s claiming Disability Living Allowance (DWP, May 2009). This is 2.4 million elderly people in total.

How much money will they lose? The average amount of weekly Attendance Allowance each person receives is £60; the average amount each person over 65 receives each week in Disability Living Allowance is £75. That means that in total, these people could lose around £8 billion a year in benefits. The average income a pensioner receives is around £250 a week (Office of National Statistics, 27 January 2009). This suggests that some pensioners may lose around a quarter of their income.