Benefit Integrity Project

HC Deb 11 March 1999 vol 327 cc343-4W

Mr. Field

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if people over retirement age will be exempt from inspection under the replacement for the Benefit Integrity Project. [75646]

Mr. Bayley

The new system of periodic inquiry into the current entitlement of people receiving Disability Living Allowance (DLA) will be introduced from April 1999. Of claimants aged 65 or over, those with lower awards of DLA may be contacted from the outset of the new process. Those with an award of DLA which comprises the higher rate of the mobility component with either the highest or middle rate of the care component will not be contacted in the early stages, as evidence indicates a low level of change in the entitlement of this group over time. We intend to evaluate and refine the process as it develops, and will be taking decisions about the position of this group in the light of growing experience.