Oral Answers to Questions

Anne Begg Excerpts

Monday 22nd November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Maria Miller]

My hon. Friend raises an important point. It is important that we have personalised care for disabled people. Every disabled person has different needs and, working with colleagues in the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department of Health, we will ensure that the correct level of support is being delivered locally.

[Miss Anne Begg (Aberdeen South) (Lab)]

Will the Minister take this opportunity to clarify exactly who will lose the mobility element of their DLA? There is quite a lot going around the blogosphere about who might be affected. Will the changes affect children in residential schools? Will they affect those in residential care who are self-funders as well as those who are funded by the local authority? Will there be exemptions, or will everyone in residential care lose the mobility element of their DLA?

[Maria Miller]

I thank the hon. Lady for her question. This does not affect self-funders, and we will be making clearer as we get towards the Bill exactly how the measure will affect all other groups. I reiterate that it is important to get clarity in the funding streams as we move towards personalisation, which is overwhelmingly welcomed by disabled people.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Maria Miller)]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. We can be clear that individuals such as his constituent are able to undertake volunteering opportunities. Indeed, that is something we have been encouraging as part of the Olympics and Paralympics, and it does not cause any problems if they are in receipt of state benefits.

[Miss Anne Begg (Aberdeen South) (Lab)]

T4. May I ask Ministers to look again at the proposal to reduce housing benefit by 10% for people receiving jobseeker’s allowance for a year? The Minister for Housing and Local Government said this morning that people in social rented housing will be kicked out of their homes if they go into work, and under the proposal on housing benefit, people will be kicked out of their homes if they do not go into work.

[Mr Duncan Smith]

I always appreciate the hon. Lady’s advice. We certainly keep all that under review and intend to do so all the way through until we introduce the Bill. However, having said that, there is a lot of good evidence out there to show that we have to give people some sort of incentive not to decide to refuse that work. We believe that that is one of the areas where a lot of international evidence shows that such a spur actually helps people to do that.