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21 Jul 2005 : Column 2010W—continued
Disability Living Allowance
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) if he will meet the Director of Life Ability Community to discuss the production of a visual impairment specific disability living allowance claim form; [13898]
(2) if his Department will produce a visual impairment-specific disability living allowance claim form; and if he will make a statement. [13899]
Mrs. McGuire: The administration of disability living allowance is a matter for the chief executive of the Disability and Carers Service, Mr. Terry Moran. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Terry Moran to Mrs Anne Main dated 21 July 2005:
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will meet the director of Life Ability Community to discuss the production of a visual impairment specific disability living allowance claim form and also If his department will produce a visual impairment specific disability living allowance claim form. The Minister for Disabled People, Anne McGuire MP, promised you a substantive reply from the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service.
The Disability and Carers Service is committed to listening to the views of their customers and representatives and would be pleased to include Life Ability Community in future consultation. In the first instance the Secretary of State has asked my Customer and External Relations Director, Kim Archer to arrange a meeting with Life Ability Community to discuss their needs. Ms Archer can be contacted on 020 7962 8297 or at Disability & Carers Service, Room 505, The Adelphi, 1–11 John Adam Street, London WC2N 6HT, she will be pleased to help in any way she can.
A number of activities have already taken place with customer groups this year, through the DWP Disability Forum and other activities. We have also consulted extensively via the Modern Services Working Group of which the Royal National Institute for the Blind is represented. Modem Services Working Group were consulted during development of the proposed revised claim form and their comments have been incorporated.
Entitlement to disability living allowance depends on the care and mobility needs arising from a person's illness or disability, not on the particular disability itself Therefore when designing claim forms we have to bear in mind that approx two thirds of our customers have more than one illness or disability present It would be impractical for both claimants and the business to design claim forms for individual impairments.
The revised claim form will be easier for the claimant to complete. It will be in a more suitable format than the current generic claim form for claimants with any single disability,
- whether physical, mental or sensory, or combinations of any of these. Testing of this claim form begins in September 2005 in two pilot areas.
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people are receiving disability living allowance; and how many are in Pembrokeshire. [13955]
Mrs. McGuire: As at 28 February 2005, the latest date for which information is available, some 2,673,000 people in Great Britain were receiving disability living allowance, of whom 7,100 were in Pembrokeshire.
1. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred. They are based on a 5 per cent. sample and therefore subject to sampling variation.
2. From November 2002, the methodology for producing these figures was changed to allow statistics to be published much sooner. This has resulted in a small increase in the reported caseload. This is because some cases which have actually terminated but have not yet been updated on the computer system are now included.
Mr. MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 4 July 2005, Official Report, column 69W, on disability living allowance, whether actions taken by his Department or by the Disability and Carers Service have intentionally or unintentionally had the consequence of reducing the award rate. [14602]
Mrs. McGuire: The administration of disability living allowance is a matter for the chief executive of the Disability and Carers Service, Mr. Terry Moran. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Terry Moran to Mr. Angus MacNeil, dated 21 July 2005:
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the answer of 4 July 2005, Official Report, column 69W, on disability living allowance, whether actions taken by his Department or by the Disability and Carers Service have intentionally or unintentionally had the consequence of reducing the award rate. The Minister for Disabled People, Anne McGuire MP, promised you a substantive reply from the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service.
There have been no changes to the policy, or the entitlement rules laid down in law, which would intentionally or unintentionally reduce the award rate of disability living allowance. Our intention still remains to pay the right money to the right person at the right time.
Disability Rights Commission
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many charges of (a) racial discrimination, (b) sexual discrimination, (c) disability discrimination and (d) a combination of the above have been made by the staff of the Disability Rights Commission against the Commission in each of the past 10 years. [12493]
Mrs. McGuire: There have been three such claims made by DRC staff to Employment Tribunals since the Commission opened its doors for business in April 2000:
None of these claims proceeded as far as a hearing before the tribunal.
Disabled People (Employer Insurance)
Mr. Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) if he will assess the merits of providing financial assistance to companies that incur additional insurance costs because they employ disabled people; [7518]
(2) what recent estimate his Department has made of the numbers of disabled people (a) refused employment and (b) dismissed because employers claim that insurance costs are prohibitive; [7519]
(3) what assessment his Department has made of the accuracy of risk assessments undertaken by insurance companies that increase insurance premiums when disabled people are employed. [7520]
Mrs. McGuire: The Department for Work and Pensions does not intend to make an assessment of the merits of providing financial assistance to companies that incur additional insurance costs because they employ disabled people. The Government do not provide funding to employers to enable them to meet their obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. In fulfilling their duty to make reasonable adjustments, employers are required only to make adjustments that are reasonable for them to make given all the circumstances of the case. Factors such as the cost of the adjustment and the employer's available resources are taken into account in determining what is reasonable.
No data is held on people who have been refused employment or dismissed because employers claim that insurance costs are prohibitive. Therefore the Department for Work and Pensions has not made any estimates of the numbers of disabled people who have been affected in these circumstances. If insurance costs are prohibitive" it may be unreasonable for an employer to pay the higher premium. Furthermore, an unacceptably high premium, or a refusal by an insurance company to provide cover for the disabled individual, may provide grounds for the employer to justify discriminatory action against the insurance company.
The Department has made no estimate of the accuracy of risk assessments undertaken by insurance companies that increase premiums when disabled people are employed. The Government are not in a position to intervene in the decisions of insurance companies when determining whether or not to offer insurance. An Insurer's Guide to the Disability Discrimination Act 1995", published by the Association of British Insurers includes guidance to the insurance industry on the use of relevant information and data in underwriting and we would expect insurance companies to follow this guide. The guide has been endorsed by the Disability Rights Commission which has undertaken to monitor its effects to help the industry improve its performance. The Disability Rights Commission proposes to begin research this summer.
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