§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what representations he has received concerning the impact on young disabled people of the change from severe disablement allowance to incapacity benefit; and what action he is taking to mitigate this, with particular reference to(a) the low income scheme for health charges and (b) non-dependent deductions from housing benefit. [65797]
§ Mr. Nicholas BrownWe have reformed severe disablement allowance (SDA) in order to provide more support to young people disabled early in life who have never had the opportunity to work. Existing SDA recipients under the age of 20 on 6 April 2001 were automatically transferred to long-term incapacity benefit (IB) in April 2002, making them up to £28.10 per week better off. We estimate that around 175,000 young people will benefit from the change over time.
We have received some representations from hon. Members and a small number of letters from the public about the change.
Depending on their circumstances, young disabled people receiving IB can qualify for help with NHS charges (for example, prescriptions, dental treatment, sight tests, money-off vouchers for glasses, wigs, fabric supports and help with the cost of travel to hospital for NHS treatment) on the grounds of low income. We recognise that some will no longer have automatic entitlement to this help but many in this group will already be considerably better off as a result of the changes we have introduced and it would be unfair to treat these people differently to other IB recipients.
Non-dependant deductions are made where a housing benefit recipient has another adult living in the household who could reasonably be expected to make a contribution towards the rent. The level of deduction depends upon the income and other circumstances of the non-dependant adult.