§ 6. Mr. GregoryTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the average annual real increase in spending on the long-term sick and disabled in the periods 1973–74 to 1978–79 and 1978–79 to 1989–90.
§ Mr. ScottWe have increased spending on the long-term sick and disabled by £4.1 billion in real terms over the past 11 years—an increase of 98 per cent.
§ Mr. GregoryNow that my right hon. Friend has announced those excellent results, will he confirm that help for those who are disabled will be increased even further as a result of the steps announced in "The Way Ahead" earlier this year?
§ Mr. ScottWe are making progress in Committee on the Disability Living Allowance and Disability Working Allowance Bill, which will introduce those two benefits. Extra resources—over and above what was planned before we published "The Way Ahead"—will be spent in each year until the end of the decade.
§ Mr. Alfred MorrisIs the Minister aware that, for most disabled people, the last time Good King Wenceslas looked out was when their benefits were linked to average earnings? How much have the Government saved by breaking that link after 1979? Is not it totally unacceptable that the Minister makes no mention of the fact that the overwhelming majority of the increase in expenditure since 1979 has been for further beneficiaries of allowances introduced by the last Labour Government and their predecessors?
§ Mr. ScottAs I have said to the right hon. Gentleman more than once, he must surely welcome, as I do, the fact that we have extended the coverage of benefits—some of which were introduced by a former Labour Government. The same number of disabled people existed when a Labour Government were in office; there was no sudden dramatic increase when we came to office. We have not only marketed the benefits and encouraged the highest possible take-up—in the teeth of some criticism from the hon. Member for Oldham, West (Mr. Meacher), I may add —but have substantially improved the coverage of attendance allowance, mobility allowance and invalid care allowance. In addition, we have introduced the carers' premium and added age-related benefits to the severe disablement allowance. In several significant ways, we have extended and improved the coverage of those benefits.