Scrapping of disability benefits
2nd December 2009
It is alarming that as part of Gordon Brown’s plans to create a National Care Service that to pay for it the Government propose to scrap Attendance Allowance and Disability Living Allowance for pensioners.
An average £3,400 a year will be taken away from 2.4 million pensioners – equivalent to a quarter of the average pensioner’s income. In Waveney this would affect 4,930 pensioners; 3,480 who receive Attendance Allowance, worth an average of £60 a week and 1,450 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. Their key feature is that they can be spent by disabled people how they wish, without restrictions, to best support their individual care needs.
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.
More needs to be done to help people with their care costs, but it is wrong to do at the expense of disabled pensioners.
Peter Aldous
Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Waveney
