§ 3. Mr. HannamTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what steps he is taking to ensure that disabled people and their representatives are consulted on the details of the two new disability benefits being introduced next year.
§ The Minister for Social Security and Disabled People (Mr. Nicholas Scott)Disabled people have already been involved in testing early versions of the claim forms for disability living allowance and disability working allowance, with very encouraging results. We have now issued these forms to a number of organisations for comment, together with the draft regulations for the benefits and the first draft of the disability handbook which will be used by officials working on DLA.
§ Mr. HannamI congratulate and thank my right hon. Friend for responding to the need for full consultation with disabled people. I also congratulate him on the Government's record level of spending on the disabled.
In the consultation process, will my right hon. Friend take account of the representations about the extra costs facing disabled people for special diets and clothing, laundry and communications? When considering the development of the living allowance, will he take those costs into account and try to arrange for their inclusion?
§ Mr. ScottI am grateful for my hon. Friend's kind comments. We are determined to involve disabled people and the organisations that represent them as much as possible in developing the new benefits—we have already done that—and in the way that they are administered. That is working successfully.
I take the point about extra costs. I believe that in general our structure of benefits reflects the additional costs of disability. I should certainly be reluctant to go back to the complexities of the former additional requirements—but I note my hon. Friend's point.
§ Mrs. RoeDoes my right hon. Friend agree that no matter how good a benefit system is, it is important that it be accessible to those in need? What progress is being made on modernising social security offices and providing a much more sophisticated system for the future?
§ Mr. ScottWe are certainly making a great deal of progress with the introduction of the Benefits Agency and with the new system of district offices, both of which will improve the efficiency of our delivery of benefits. If the system is to be accessible to people they need information about it. I was especially pleased recently to be able to launch the national benefits inquiry line, which will significantly help disabled people to understand the benefits to which they may be entitled and how to claim them.