Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to provide financial support to help children under the age of three who are eligible for a disabled parking badge but are not eligible for the mobility component of the disability living allowance.

The principle underpinning Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is that payments are made to families who incur extra costs as a result of meeting the additional care and/or mobility needs of a disabled child.

In deciding to set the lower age limit for entitlement to the higher rate mobility component at 3 years of age, the department considered views of medical advisors and independent research that the majority of children could walk at the age of 2½. By the age of 3 it was realistically possible in the majority of cases to make an informed decision as to whether an inability to walk was the result of disability.

We have no plans to make changes to DLA for children under the age of 3.