Oral Answers to Questions

Sheila Gilmore Excerpts

Monday 13th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am much obliged to the Minister.

[Sheila Gilmore (Edinburgh East) (Lab)]

15. What estimate he has made of the costs incurred by a disabled person in the three months following diagnosis of their disability.

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

No such estimate has been made. Perhaps I should gently remind the hon. Lady that disability living allowance generally, and personal independence payments absolutely, are not related to a medical diagnosis. They are about considering people as individuals and looking at the impact of their disabilities on their ability to live independent lives. Circumstances, needs and costs will vary from individual to individual, and do not necessarily correlate to a diagnosis.

[Sheila Gilmore]

In Committee, the Under-Secretary said that the reason for the proposal was not savings and that she did not expect to make any savings from it. Yet people who fall ill with sudden onset conditions incur additional costs. They are not long-term unemployed or welfare dependent. Why is she making the change if not to make savings?

[Maria Miller]

I think what I said in Committee was that there would be some savings but that they were modest. The principle of a six-month qualifying period was not intended to deny disabled people help in the short term. That help currently comes mainly but not exclusively from means-tested support, with the personal independence payment starting when costs become a burden to people, regardless of their income. That is why it is not means-tested.