§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what representations his Department has received from the National Invalid Vehicle Reprieve Action Group in the past year. what replies have been sent; and if he or the Minister with special responsibility for the disabled will meet representatives of the group to discuss matters of concern to its members.
§ Mr. RossiVarious representations have been received from this body on several matters, including the need for a vehicle to be offered as an alternative to mobility allowance; the retention of a three-wheeler for a period by those switching to mobility allowance and learning to drive a car; the case for allowing disabled youngsters to have driving licences before the age of 16; the adequacy of mobility allowance for those wishing to acquire a car; the removal of VAT on aids for disabled drivers; and the effect of increases in petrol prices on disabled drivers.
As to the first three, I refer the right hon. Gentleman to the reply my right hon. Friend the Member for Daventry (Mr. Prentice), the former Minister for Social Security, gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Exeter (Mr. Hannam) on 19 December—[Vol. 996, c. 420–22]; mobility allowance is to be increased to £16.50 in November, which is as high as resources permit; relief from VAT on car adaptions for disabled people was announced in the Budget; there are no proposals to increase the petrol allowance.
If the National Invalid Vehicle Reprieve Action Group will let officials of the Department have details of other 351W matters of current concern to members of the group, I shall certainly consider whether a meeting would be the best way to consider them; but I emphasise that the decisions announced on 19 December were taken only after very full and thoughtful consideration of all the views of interested organisations including those of the National Invalid Vehicle Reprieve Action Group, and nothing would be gained by covering the same ground again.
§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what increase would be necessary in the petrol allowance payable to the drivers of invalid vehicles issued by his Department to restore its value in real terms to that of the date when the present amount of the allowance was announced;
(2) what consideration he has given to increasing the petrol allowance payable to the drivers of invalid vehicles issued by his Department to match the increase in the price of petrol; and what plans he has for increasing the allowance.
§ Mr. RossiPump prices vary, but an increase of the order of £11 would be indicated. As the right hon. Gentleman is aware, the amount of the allowance has never been linked directly either to the cost of petrol itself or to the levels of excise duty and value added tax. It has represented the highest possible rate having regard to available resources and other claims on them. I cannot hold out any prospect of increasing it.