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The impact of the removal of the mobility component of Disability Living Allowance from adults and children living in state-funded residential care
12 January 2011
In the Comprehensive Spending Review on 20 October 2010 the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the government’s proposal to remove the mobility component of DLA for people who live in local-authority-funded residential care. It has been estimated that 80,000 people who live in care homes will be affected by the move.
Following the government’s proposal to remove the mobility component of DLA for people who live in residential care, a number of organisations have expressed serious concerns about the impact of this on disabled adults and children.
Since the proposal was announced, a consortium of disability organisations has worked to gather evidence and information about the assumption of ‘double funding’ as justification for the proposed changes. The consortium has also spoken to individuals about the impact that withdrawing the DLA mobility component would have on their lives. This has particularly focused on adults living in residential care, although the removal of DLA mobility from children and young people in residential schools and colleges is also considered in this paper.
We believe that the argument at the heart of the government’s proposal based around the need to ‘remove an overlap of public funds’ is wrong. This is supported by the information collected and presented in this report.
Rather than removing ‘an overlap of public funds’ as the government has stated, this measure will simply transfer costs to already-stretched local authorities or will leave people without the vital support that they need.
This document provides a summary of information and evidence.
Note: for pdf files you will need to download adobe acrobat reader. To convert the pdf to alternative formats or for more information on accessibility go to access adobe.
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