§ Mr. GrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many sufferers from(a) Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and (b) Multiple Sclerosis were awarded disability living allowance in the last five years; and what percentage of those applying that represented in each case. [146609]
§ Maria EagleThe required information is in the following table.
687W
§ Mr. GrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) if he will make a statement on his Department's policy on chronic fatigue syndrome in relation to benefits; [146633]
(2) what assessment he has made of the suitability of Disability Living Allowance application forms for those suffering from variable conditions; [146610]
(3) how many officials dealing with Disability Living Allowance have specialist knowledge of chronic fatigue syndrome; [146608]
(4) what recent discussions he has had with the Disability Living Allowance Appeals Service on how to deal with variable conditions. [146611]
§ Maria EaglePeople with chronic fatigue syndrome are entitled to social security benefits if they meet the usual qualifying conditions for them. For Disability Living Allowance, entitlement depends on the effects that severe physical or mental disability have on a person's need for personal care and/or their ability to walk, and not on particular disabilities or diagnoses.
The Disability Living Allowance claim form is designed to enable all disabled people to give full details of the effects of their disabilities on their need for personal care and ability to walk, and specifically asks for as much detail as possible about variations in their condition. In view of the concern disabled people have expressed about the length and complexity of the form, we are developing and trialling a number of new style 688W claim packs which will give even better opportunities for people to detail how their disabilities affect them on a day to day basis.
Some 1,180 decision makers decide claims for Disability Living Allowance. All of them receive specific training on the causes, manifestations and management of chronic fatigue syndrome. Guidance about the effects of particular disabilities is available to decision makers in the Disability Handbook published by the Department's Corporate Medical Group. The section on chronic fatigue syndrome was written and compiled following consultation with experts in this area of medicine including the Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Association. Decision makers can also seek advice from the Department's medical services doctors, all of whom are trained disability analysts with specialist knowledge of assessing the effects of disability and who receive specific guidance on assessing the effects of chronic fatigue syndrome as one of their training modules.
There have been no recent discussions with the Appeals Service on how to deal with Disability Living Allowance claims from people with variable conditions. The Appeals Service is an independent body and it would not be appropriate to seek to influence how they might deal generally with cases involving particular disabilities. On individual cases being considered by the Appeals Service, however, it is open to the Department to express its views about whether the conditions for entitlement to benefit are, or are not, met. In this connection, the recent judgment of the House of Lords in the case of "Moyna" ([2003] UKHL 44) confirmed that the correct approach to entitlement to Disability Living Allowance for people with variable conditions is to take a "broad view". This judgment is binding on both decision makers and the Appeals Service.