§ Lord Carterasked Her Majesty's Government:
What they estimate to be the cost of providing a higher rate mobility component, equivalent to the higher rate care component, for people with locomotor disabilities in severity categories 9 and 10 on the OPCS scale of disability.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Department of Social Security (Lord Henley)The mobility component of Disability Living Allowance is intended for people with significant mobility needs. OPCS severity categories refer to overall levels of disability and a very severe level of overall disability may not necessarily equate with appreciable mobility needs. If a higher rate mobility component was to be paid in the way suggested it would be necessary to decide the overall level of disability before going on to determine whether there were any locomotion disabilities; and benefit would be awarded regardless of the severity of those locomotion disabilities. We do not believe that such an approach would be workable. The cost, assuming the normal age conditions for the mobility component, might be around £140 million, but this cannot be assessed with any certainty.