§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what assessment she has made of the adequacy of present levels of disability benefits in offsetting the additional cost of disability. [40782]
§ Mr. DenhamAttendance Allowance and Disability Living Allowance provide a contribution towards extra costs arising from the effects of disability. The structure of these benefits reflects findings from the Office of Population, Censuses and Surveys (OPCS) surveys of disability in Great Britain in the mid-1980s. These showed that locomotor and personal care disabilities were among the types of disability most strongly associated with higher than average additional expenditure arising from disability.
The 1996–97 disability follow-up to the Family Resources Survey will update our information on the financial circumstances of disabled people. It does not replicate the questions on extra spending from the earlier surveys, but it does ask respondents whether they incur extra costs, whether they receive help towards those costs, and whether they go without items they need because they cannot afford them. A report of the survey will be published towards the end of the year.
§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations she has received from disability organisations calling for a guaranteed minimum level of income to ensure equality between disabled and non-disabled people; and if she will make a statement. [40783]
§ Mr. DenhamWe have received many representations on a range of issues relating to people with disabilities, some of which will have addressed the level of benefits.