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17 Mar 2006 : Column 2522W—continued
WORK AND PENSIONS
Benefits (Fife)
Mr. MacDougall: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) Fife and (b) Glenrothes are in receipt of (i) income support and (ii) disability benefit. [57738]
Mr. Plaskitt [holding answer 10 March 2006]: The information is in the table.
Notes:
1.Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred.
2.Disability living allowance totals show the number of people in receipt of an allowance, and excludes people with entitlement where the payment has been suspended, for example if they are in hospital.
3.People can claim both income support and disability living allowance so the figures will contain an amount of overlap.
Source:
DWP Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.
Carers
Mr. Paul Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what (a) benefits and (b) other assistance is offered by the Government to those who act as carers for ill or disabled relatives; what measures are in place to encourage higher levels of take-up of this support; and if he will make a statement. [55828]
Mrs. McGuire: Depending on their personal circumstances, carers have access to the full range of social security benefits. Those who provide regular and substantial care of at least 35 hours a week for a severely disabled person receiving attendance allowance or the equivalent rates of the disability living allowance care component can be entitled to a carer's allowance and if on a low income, to the carer premium in the income-related benefits or the carer's additional amount in pension credit.
Information and advice about entitlement to carer's allowance and other benefits are available from a range of outlets including social security offices, Jobcentre Plus offices, DWP and other helplines, DWP and other internet sites, local authorities, Citizens Advice and welfare benefit offices, public libraries, health clinics, doctors' surgeries and health visitors. Officials from the Department's disability and carers service also discuss carer's allowance at outreach events throughout Great Britain.
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This Government has recognised the contribution and concerns of carers through the National Carers' Strategy published in 1999. We have increased the funding available to support carers from £20 million in 1999 to £185 million in 2005–06, providing an extra £635 million for carers. We have announced our intention to continue the funding at £185 million a year until at least 2007–08. This means that, by 2008, we will have invested just over a billion pounds in support for carers.
Local authorities should be taking the needs of carers into account when planning and commissioning all services. Their role is crucial in promoting independence in individuals wishing to remain in the community both as part of the care team and as individuals in their own right.
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people were receiving carers allowance in the latest period for which figures are available; and how many (a) adult dependants and (b) children there were in each claimant's family. [56289]
Mrs. McGuire: At 31 August 2005, the latest date for which information is available, carer's allowance was in payment to around 441,400 carers, of whom 14,600 received an increase for a dependent adult and 12,900 received an increase for a dependent child 1 . Details of the numbers of adult dependants and children in the families of carer's allowance recipients are not available. Increases for dependent children were replaced by the child tax credit for new claims from 6 April 2003.
DWP Information Directorate
Disability Living Allowance
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost has been of lowering the qualifying age limit for the mobility component of disability living allowance from five to three years of age in each year since the change was made. [56279]
Mrs. McGuire: The estimated cost of lowering the age limit for entitlement to the higher rate mobility component of disability living allowance was £14 million in 2001–02 and £15 million in each of the subsequent years 1 . The lower age limit for entitlement to the lower rate mobility component remains at five years of age because all children under that age need guidance or supervision from another person when walking out of doors on unfamiliar routes.
1 All estimates are based on data from the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study, except for August 2001 to February 2002, which are based on 5 per cent. samples.
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Wales who live in special accommodation receive (a) disability living allowance care component at the (i) lower rate, (ii)middle rate and (iii) higher rate and (b) attendance allowance at the (A) lower rate and (B) higher rate; and if he will make a statement. [56495]
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.
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You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Wales who live in special accommodation receive (a) disability living allowance care component (i) lower rate (ii)middle rate and (iii) higher rate and (b) attendance allowance (A) lower rate and (B) higher rate.
The Minister for Disabled People, Anne McGuire MP, promised you a reply from the chief executive of the Disability and Carers Service.
The information is not available/held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Health-related Benefits
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in the (a) 18 to 24, (b) 25 to 39, (c) 40 to 54 and (d) 55 to 65 years age band were in receipt of (i) disability allowance, (ii) invalid care allowance, (iii) carer's allowance, (iv) incapacity benefit and (v) other health-related benefit in each year since 2000; and what percentage of the total population of the Crosby constituency this represented in each case. [56994]
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
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in the (a) 18 to 25 (b) 25 to 40 (c) 40 to 55 and (d) 55 to 65 years age band were in receipt of (i) disability allowance (ii) invalid care allowance (iii) carer's allowance (iv)incapacity benefit and (v) other health-related benefit; and what percentage of the total population of the Crosby constituency this represented in each case in each year since 2000.
The Minister for Disabled People, Anne McGuire MP, promised you a reply from the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service.
As this Information has previously been supplied, may I refer you to the written answer I gave on 15 February 2006, Official Report, volume 442, columns 2166 to 2171.
Hearing Disabilities
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps the Government are taking to ensure that people with hearing disabilities are not discriminated against when trying to find employment; and if he will make a statement. [59025]
Mrs. McGuire: A person who has a hearing impairment which meets the definition of disability under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 is already protected by the employment provisions in part 2 of the Act. These provisions provide comprehensive protection against disability discrimination in recruitment and employment. They make it unlawful to discriminate directly against a disabled person because of their disability, or to treat them less favourably for a reason related to their disability.
Furthermore, they require an employer to make reasonable adjustments to job application or selection processes, and to premises, practices or procedures, if these would otherwise put a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage.
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On 1 October 2004, we extended the employment provisions to include small employers and to all previously excluded occupations except service in the armed forces. We have been undertaking a series of wide-ranging awareness-raising campaigns to help employers to understand and fulfil their duties under the Act. The current campaign was launched in December 2005 and runs to May 2006. The campaign brochure and website include examples of adjustments which it might be reasonable for an employer to make to assist a hearing-impaired person.
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