HC Deb 16 January 1991 vol 183 cc531-2W
Mr. Meacher

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the organisations which responded to the Department's recent consultation on the proposed assessment and adjudication procedures for the disability living allowance; and if he will make a statement on the responses received and on the action he plans to take in the light of these responses.

Mr. Scott

A list of organisations that responded is in the table. In addition, responses were received from other Government Departments and from individual members of the public.

The proposals in the consultation document received widespread support. The move from medical examination toward self-assessment was welcomed unanimously by the organisations representing disabled people, as was the greater emphasis on evidence from health or education professionals familiar with the claimant. The new three-tier adjudication system, giving access to an independent appeal tribunal—the newly constituted Disability Appeal Tribunal—was also seen as a major improvement.

Many organisations made helpful suggestions concerning the claim procedure, aimed at helping to ensure the success of this innovative new system. We are taking close account of these suggestions in drawing up our detailed plans for implementation; and we shall be consulting further, both with disabled people and with their representative organisations, about the claim form and the claim procedure.

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF ORGANISATIONS RESPONDING TO THE CONSULTATION DOCUMENT

Organisation

  • Age Concern
  • Alzheimer's Disease Association
  • Association of County Councils
  • Association of Metropolitan Authorities
  • Attendance Allowance Board
  • Attendance Allowance Board of Northern Ireland
  • British Diabetic Association
  • British Epilepsy Association
  • British Limbless Ex-Servicemen's Association
  • Bromley (London Borough of)
  • British Medical Association
  • Cadetcare Associates
  • Canterbury and Thanet Advice Workers' Group
  • Centre for Accessible Environments
  • Cheshire Alliance of Disabled People
  • Citizens' Rights Office
  • Cystic Fibrosis Research Trust
  • Dene Centre
  • Derbyshire Centre for Integrated Living
  • DIAL Waltham Forest
  • Disability Alliance
  • Disablement Action Group
  • Disability Benefits Consortium
  • Disablement Income Group
  • Disablement Income Group (Scotland)
  • Greater London Citizens' Advice Bureaux Service
  • Hackney (London Borough of)
  • Haemophilia Society
  • Information Advisory Service
  • Islington Council
  • Joint Committee on Mobility for Disabled People
  • Kent County Council
  • Lancashire County Council
  • Leicestershire Association for the Disabled
  • Leonard Cheshire Foundation
  • Lewisham (London Borough of)
  • Mencap
  • MIND
  • National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux
  • National Association for Limbless Disabled
  • National Deaf Children's Society
  • Northern Ireland Council on Disability
  • North Yorkshire Welfare Benefits Unit
  • Office of the Social Security Commissioners (Northern Ireland)
  • Pendle District Citizens Advice Bureau
  • Prince of Wales Advisory Group on Disability
  • Queen Elizabeth's Foundation for the Disabled
  • Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation (RADAR)
  • Royal National Institute for the Blind
  • Scottish Society for the Mentally Handicapped
  • Social Policy Research Unit (York University)
  • Social Security Advisory Committee
  • Social Security and Medical Appeal Tribunals Northern Ireland
  • Spastics Society
  • Spinal Injuries Association
  • Stockport (Metropolitan Borough of)
  • Terrence Higgins Trust
  • Thamesdown Law Centre
  • University of Birmingham
  • West Midlands Welfare Rights Advisors' Group