Oral Answers to Questions

Thomas Docherty Excerpts

Monday 18th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Maria Miller]

My hon. Friend raises an important point, and that is just the sort of detail we are working through. It is absolutely our intention to ensure that transitional arrangement are in place to help parents in the situation she describes to have continuing payments into the future, and I am certainly making that a priority.

[Thomas Docherty (Dunfermline and West Fife) (Lab)]

8. What the terms of reference are of his review of the mobility component of disability living allowance.

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

We have announced that we would not remove the DLA mobility component from people in residential care from October 2012 and would consider the issue as part of our wider reform to introduce the personal independence payment. It is only right that we consider carefully the needs of this particular group to understand their current circumstances before we come to any final decision on how best to address their needs in future.

[Thomas Docherty]

If that is the case, perhaps the Minister can explain why these savings still appear to be in the Chancellor’s Red Book. Has she discussed the matter with her colleagues in the Treasury?

[Maria Miller]

The hon. Gentleman has probably raised this matter with me before. The Red Book reflects the current position, which is that support for care home residents is being reviewed alongside the broader reform of DLA. The figures in the Red Book make it clear that those savings will be made as part of the Government’s overall reform of the programme, which is very consistent with what I have said, and will be part of the reform of PIP.