§ Mr. BerryTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many disabled adults have their disability living allowance withdrawn because they have been in hospital for four weeks or longer. [51575]
§ Maria EagleWhen disability living allowance recipients aged 16 or over have been in hospital for 28 days, payments are suspended pending their discharge. This is because DLA is paid as a contribution towards the extra costs faced by severely disabled people as a result of their disabilities. In hospital, the disability related needs giving rise to those costs are met free of charge, and to continue payment of DLA in these circumstances would amount to duplicate provision from public funds. Information is not available on the annual number of suspensions resulting from these circumstances. The latest available information is that, at 30 November 2001, about 11,700 claims were at that time recorded as suspended as a result of a stay in hospital.
This figure is based on 5 per cent. data and rounded to the nearest hundred.