Helpline 0131 669 1600
Go back to the Frequently asked questions
There has been considerable concern about the “Shaping the Future of Care Together” Green Paper which has proposed that disability benefits such as Attendance Allowance should be stopped and the cash handed over to local authorities’ social services instead.
Disability benefits include Attendance Allowance (“AA”) and Disability Living Allowance (“DLA”), both of which are non means-tested, tax-free benefits for adults (and children) who need help with personal care and mobility.
A Government Green Paper – called “Shaping the Future of Care Together” – has revealed proposals to stop paying disability benefits, for example, AA, and hand the cash over to local authorities’ social services instead.
Under the plan, new claimants could have their disability benefits converted to a ‘personal budget’ administered by local authorities and used to pay for services – not to spend as they wish. It is suggested by the government that this move would increase the funding available for social care.
AA is similar to the care component of DLA, but for older people. DLA is not specifically named in the paper, but some people believe that the DLA care component is also under threat because the Government is talking about ‘disability benefits’ in the green paper.
Disability groups are concerned that if the changes proposed in the Green Paper are implemented, local authorities would be given the exclusive right to assess the needs of disabled people without having regard to the varying needs of disabled people and individual choice.
Many disabled organisations believe that AA and DLA give disabled people the freedom and independence to manage their personal care.
Many disabled people still encounter barriers in the mainstream. This is despite the existence of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 more than 10 years ago.
AA and DLA allow disabled people to make a contribution towards access to support so they can have access to goods and services, education and employment with maximum choice.
While disabled groups welcome the opportunity to review the social care system so that it accurately reflects the needs of disabled people, they believe that this should not to be at the expense of the disabled people.
Disabled people who receive benefits are concerned that the changes proposed by the Green Paper will result in the benefits they receive being reduced.
Creating the Green Paper is simply the first step on the road to the creation of new laws. Since then the government has gone through a consultation process, which ended on the 13th November. Its results must now be collated, evaluated and assessed.
However, if politicians do not receive the opinions of disabled people and disabled organisations, they will not know what DLA or AA means to claimants of DLA or AA and how it helps them. Help keep your MP informed and exercise your rights by contacting them in writing or in person at a local surgery.
For now, however, the disabled community is advised that:
If you are receiving AA or DLA, this Green Paper will not change your entitlement to these benefits for the foreseeable future. The Green Paper mentions protection for existing DLA/Attendance Allowance recipients and this is a characteristic of benefit changes. 'Transitional protection' is quite common and means that if a benefit is amended or phased out, existing recipients of that benefit retain their entitlement to it.
More information
About the Green Paper: http://careandsupport.direct.gov.uk/
The Green Paper itself can be accessed at: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/
PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_102338
To join the campaign against the proposals in the Green Paper:
http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/disability-living-allowance-(dla)/dla-aa-cuts
To sign the Number 10 Petition:
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/AttendanceA/