§ Lord Morris of Manchesterasked Her Majesty's Government:
What advice they have taken on the legality of reducing or withdrawing from a disabled person any disability benefit awarded to her or to him for life.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Social Security (Baroness Hollis of Heigham)Awards of Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance are made "for life" where the disabled person is likely to continue to satisfy the qualifying criteria for that award. That does not mean that they will. A person's needs may increase if their condition deteriorates or their needs may decrease as they adapt to a disability or their condition improves.
The Government considers that the law dealing with the review of awards is clear. The Social Security Administration Act 1992 sets out, at section 30(2), the grounds for reviewing awards of Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance. Section 32(4)(b) of the same Act, as amended by section 17(2) of the Social Security Administration (Fraud) Act 1997, makes it clear that section 30(2) can also be applied to awards that have been made for life.