HC Deb 22 April 1980 vol 983 cc116-7W
Mr. Loveridge

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many disabled users of three-wheeler vehicles have them under special arrangements which have now ceased; and what provision is intended to ensure their mobility in future when these three-wheeler vehicles are no longer in service, and when the age group of those concerned has not yet been phased into the new mobility allowance scheme.

Mr. Prentice

All the eligible age groups have now been phased into the mobility allowance scheme, which superseded the invalid vehicle scheme on 1 January 1976.

Currently there are 12,314 three-wheeler users in England in the following categories:

  1. (a) 11,440 received their vehicle under the pre-1 January 1976 scheme and may switch to the mobility allowance at any time without 117 age limit and normally without the need for a further medical examination under the special option scheme provided for them through the Social Security (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1977. Included in the group are 71 disabled war pensioners who also have available to them the further options of a small car or a private car maintenance allowance under the separate war pensioners vehicle scheme. Those in this group have been given a commitment that, if the time comes when we are unable to keep their vehicles in service, we intend that they shall not be immobilised except where increasing disablement makes this unavoidable. But stocks of reusable vehicles in relation to a steadily declining clientele are good and it is too early to say how this commitment will be honoured in individual cases or in general.
  2. (b) 296 received their vehicles under the mobility allowance scheme, which until July 1976, offered entitled claimants in the phased in age groups the choice of a three-wheeler or the cash benefit. They are able to claim the mobility allowance if they wish to do so.
  3. (c) 578 received their three-wheelers under a temporary arrangement, which ended in July 1978, whereby those under pensionable age who were otherwise able to satisfy the entitlement conditions for mobility allowance but whose age group had not been phased in, could have the use of a three-wheeler. Provided they were born on or after 29 November 1914, the earliest qualifying birth date for the mobility allowance, they can claim the allowance even if they continue to use their three-wheelers and defer taking up the cash benefit until after their sixty-fifth birthday.