Disability Benefits update

Following the furore over a suggestion in the Government Green Paper, Shaping the Future of Care Together, that Attendance Allowance (AA) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) should be scrapped to pay for care reforms, ministers finally confirmed last month that DLA for those people of working age would not be scrapped.

You can read more on this decision here.

However, AA and DLA for the over-65s are still under threat. The consultation period for the Green Paper has now closed, but campaigning carries on.

The Mail Online reported last week that a disabled Labour MP is leading a backbench rebellion against Ministers' plans to scrap benefits for needy pensioners. Read more here.

Tory health spokesman Andrew Lansley said he would keep the two allowances if the Conservatives win the general election next year.

The Conservatives are currently running a petition in support of keeping the benefits in place. Click here for more information on this petition.

A petition on the Number10.gov.uk website, submitted by Peter Hand of Mencap, calling on the Prime Minister to recognise the vital support that Attendance Allowance (AA) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) provide to disabled people, and to ensure that these benefits are secured and are not removed as part of any future reform of the social care system in England, now has over 22,000 signatures. However, this petition will end on 7 December 2009. Click here to sign this petition (British citizens & residents only).

A similar petition on the same website calls for the same thing in Scotland. Click here to sign this petition (British citizens & residents only).

For further information, see:

• The Benefits and Work website
• The Save DLA website
• Number10.gov.uk petition for England
• Number10.gov.uk petition for Scotland
• The Conservative Party's petition on this topic