Low Review urges mobility payments to be saved

Thursday 03 November 2011

Lord Low’s review calls on the government to save mobility payments for disabled people living in residential care

A new report calls on the government to protect the mobility component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA), or its replacement, for disabled people living in residential care.

In his independent review, Lord Low of Dalston says that disabled people should have the same right to mobility as people without a disability.

That right is under threat from the Welfare Reform Bill – currently being debated in the House of Lords. It will give the government the power to stop paying the mobility component of the Personal Independence Payment (PIP – due to replace DLA) to 78,000 people living in residential care.

Today’s findings are the result of a 12-week review – carried out after Mencap and Leonard Cheshire Disability asked Lord Low to investigate the impact of removing mobility payments. More than 800 submissions were made to the review, including evidence from disabled people and their families, local authorities and care providers.

Step backwards

Lord Low said: “If payment of the mobility component to people living in residential care ends, this will be a serious step backwards for disability rights.”

The report finds no evidence to support the assertion that funding for the DLA mobility component is duplicated by local authorities. It says that there needs to be greater clarity of local authorities’ responsibilities for funding mobility needs and the role played by the DLA mobility component.

Mark Goldring, Mencap’s chief executive, welcomed the findings of the review: “The review makes it clear that the government should protect the mobility component of the DLA – or PIP as it will be known – and we are again calling for an amendment to be made to the Welfare Reform Bill which will ensure that this benefit remains in place for those 78,000 disabled people living in residential care.”

Mencap is asking its supporters to email their MP, urging the government to accept Lord Low’s recommendations and keep the mobility component.

Read the findings of the Low Review