§ Mr. Alfred MorrisTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make it his policy that attendance at rehabilitation courses will be regarded as a period of incapacity to work in relation to eligibility for disability working allowance.
§ Mr. Alfred MorrisTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what consideration his Department has given to defining unemployment benefit as a passport for disability working allowance for otherwise eligible people.
Mr. Alfred MorisTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make it his policy to increase the margin above family credit to provide an incentive for appropriate persons to claim disability working allowance.
§ Mr. Alfred MorrisTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the difference between the current number of disabled people receiving the disability working allowance and his Department's original forecast; and how he accounts for the difference.
§ Mr. ScottThe current caseload is 3,405. The original estimate was that about 50,000 people might be entitled to disability working allowance, which was introduced as a completely new benefit in April 1992 and can, of course, be expected to take a number of years to become established. We have commissioned extensive independent research to help evaluation and this is expected to be completed in 1996.