06/04/2011

The government’s response to the consultation on the future of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) reform, published on 4 April, shows they have failed to listen to disabled people – including many cited in their own consultation response.

Although the government received more than 5,500 responses to the consultation, they intend to proceed with the same basic proposals as set out in the initial consultation document.

The government intends to:

• Abolish DLA and replace it with Personal Independence Allowance, which will be non-means tested. • Introduce a new functional assessment – to measure ‘an individual’s ability to carry out key everyday activities’ such as ‘planning and buying food; washing and grooming, planning and following a journey; and moving around’. These will be carried out in interviews with an assessor
• Doubling the qualifying period before someone can apply for PIP to six months. • Changing the structure of the benefit so there are only two components of personal independence payment, each with a standard and enhanced rate of payment, instead of three levels, (higher, middle and lowest rate) of the care component of DLA and two of the mobility component.

Despite huge protest, it is still not clear what will happen to the mobility component for people living in residential homes. The report simply says the government will not introduce the measure ‘as planned in October 2012’ and will review existing evidence and gather further evidence before deciding how to proceed.

Also the future of DLA for children may not be secure. The report says that the changes won’t affect children from 2013/14 but adds that the government ‘would want to build on our experience of developing the objective assessment for claimants of working age before applying it to children’. Any changes would be consulted on, they say.

The DWP’s full response is available at: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/dla-reform-response

Read Inclusion London’s response to the government’s consultation on DLA reform: http://www.inclusionlondon.co.uk/inclusion-londons-dla-reform-response