PERSONS QUALIFYING FOR DISABLED PERSON'S TAX CREDIT (Hansard, 22 June 1999)

§ Dawn Primarolo
I beg to move, That this House agrees with the Lords in the said amendment.

§ Mr. Deputy Speaker (Sir Alan Haselhurst)
With this, it will be convenient to take Lords amendment No. 7.

§ Dawn Primarolo
The Chancellor announced in his Budget statement in March a new fast-track gateway to the disabled persons tax credit to help people who become disabled while in work. Since then, work on the details of the fast track has been under way, and the Government were pleased to introduce the new clause on Report in the other place. It was warmly welcomed there and I am sure that the House will welcome it also.
The new fast-track gateway introduced by clause 14 aims to make it financially possible for newly disabled people to stay in work even if, because of their disability, they either have to move to a less demanding—and therefore less well-paid—job, or need to reduce their working hours in their old job. The fast-track gateway will be an additional route to the disability tax credit for people who are in work and who cannot meet the present qualifying conditions.
From October 2000, a person will be able to apply for the disabled persons tax credit if he or she has received, for 140 days, statutory sick pay, short-term incapacity benefit paid at the lower rate, income support paid on grounds of incapacity, national insurance credits only or occupational sick pay—linked periods of incapacity will count as long as together they add up to 140 days; if he or she has a condition that puts him or her at a disadvantage in getting a job; if a medical practitioner certifies that the illness or disability will last for at least six months, or for the rest of the applicant's life if that is 979 likely to be shorter than six months; and if, on returning to work, the applicant will receive earnings at least 20 per cent. less than would have been the case if there had been no disability. People who have made a successful initial application for the disabled persons tax credit will, of course, be able to make a repeat application if the illness or disability continues at the end of the 26-week award period.
The idea of the fast-track gateway emerged from informal discussions between the Government and the disability lobby about the problems faced by people who become disabled while in work. As I have said, the Chancellor announced the fast track in outline in his pre-Budget report in November 1998. A formal consultation followed and the proposals were warmly welcomed by the disability lobby, whose suggestions for improvements have been reflected in the final design. In particular, the Disablement Income Group described the proposed fast-track gateway as a "very welcome development", and the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation praised the emphasis that the Government are placing on enabling disabled people to remain in work.
For completeness, I should remind the House that, since it last debated the Tax Credits Bill, the Government have taken two further steps to address the needs of disabled people. We announced on 17 May that, from October 2000, the working families tax credit would include an additional premium for each disabled child in a family receiving the tax credit. That additional premium of £21.90 per week is already payable under the disability working allowance and will continue under the disabled persons tax credit. The extension to the working families tax credit means that extra help will be available to working families with a disabled child, whether or not one of the parents is also disabled. That will no doubt be extremely welcome news to the disability groups who have long campaigned for the disabled child of an able-bodied person to be treated as generously as the disabled child of a disabled parent. I hope that I have explained the details of the new clause to the House. We welcome these changes and support the Lords amendment.

§ Mr. Pickles
I shall be brief. It would be churlish not to thank the Paymaster General for giving a brief explanation of the changes. She will recall that this matter concerned all political parties in Committee, and we are pleased that the Government have honoured their undertakings. While we oppose this measure, we have done our best to try to improve it. There was always a thin red line between our co-operation and opposition. If the hon. Lady has been good will hunting, she has certainly found it in this amendment. We recognise that and support the amendment.
Lords amendment agreed to [Special Entry].
Lords amendments Nos. 5 to 11 agreed to.
Committee appointed to draw up Reasons to be assigned to the Lords for disagreeing to certain of their amendments to the Bill: Ms Hazel Blears, Mr. Greg Pope, 980 Mrs. Eleanor Laing, Mr. Eric Pickles and Dawn Primarolo; Three to be the quorum of the Committee.— [Mrs. McGuire.]