Mobility allowance saved
On 1st December 2011 the Government announced that it is reversing its decision to remove the mobility element of the disability living allowance (DLA) from people in residential care homes.
The plan to remove DLA had been announced in the Government's 2010 spending review. It raised widespread concern among organisations such as Enable that support people with learning difficulties. This concern led to Lord Low's independent review of personal mobility in residential care Independence, Choice and Control.
Lord Low's review attracted over 800 responses from individuals, local authorities and providers. Its conclusions were that
- there is no overlap between the support offered by the mobility element of DLA and the support offered by local authorities and providers; each plays a distinct part in meeting disabled people's needs
- action needs to be taken to ensure that local authorities are meeting their obligations and that residential services are properly funded to provide mobility support to meet servicer users' assessed needs
- DLA provides the most appropriate way of meeting personal mobility needs
- if the rights of disabled people are to be preserved then it is vital that DLA mobility, and its successor under the Personal Independent Payment, are retained for people living in residential care.
As part of the lobbying strategy our Executive Director, Jackie King-Owen approached Patrick McLoughlin MP for Derbyshire Dales. He arranged a one to one meeting between Jackie and the civil servants in Whitehall who were involved in drafting the regulations. She met with them in August 2011 and was able to show how the pooled mobility scheme for ECHS had made a difference to the lives of people living in Registered Care. In addition the Enable Group has been involved with the national lobbying strategy and it is a fantastic achievement to feel that Ministers and civil servants have listened to the real arguments in respect of the maintenance of mobility allowances in Registered Care.
Enable Group 5th December 2011
In the light of Lord Low's detailed findings and the campaigning of organisations such as Enable the Government looked again at the underlying evidence. It concluded that this evidence does not justify the action proposed.
The provision to remove the mobility component of personal independence payments for people in residential care is now being removed from the Welfare Reform Bill.
This means that the mobility component will be paid to people in residential care at either the standard rate or the enhanced rate, provided the individual satisfies the criteria for entitlement.
This decision underlines the critical importance of effective campaigning and independent research in achieving fair treatment for people with learning difficulties.
