'Labour’s mean-minded plan would hit the East End', says Mason

John Mason MP, the SNP spokesman on Work & Pensions, has condemned UK Government plans to abolish Attendance Allowance to pay for care services for the elderly in England. The proposed abolition would have a knock-on effect on Scotland, and could also affect the care component of Disability Living Allowance.

Attendance Allowance is a tax free benefit for people with physical or mental disabilities or who are deaf, blind or partially sighted and those who need assistance with personal care, for example.

For many people Attendance Allowance has become a lifeline and has enabled them to receive the care they require, without it many people would find it hard to survive with the pressures that their condition has brought.

The current proposals are contained in the green paper: ‘Shaping the Future of Care Together’ part of the Labour Government’s ‘Building Britain’s Future’ programme. A number of charities, including the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) have expressed serious concern over the proposals and are actively campaigning to save Attendance Allowance.

Commenting on the UK Government’s plans, Glasgow East MP, John Mason, said: "I am concerned at the suggestion that this vital benefit be removed from elderly disabled people. Many elderly people have come to depend on Attendance Allowance and its abolition would deprive them of a large proportion of their personal income.

"Attendance Allowance helps many of the elderly disabled maintain a degree of financial independence; its abolition would be a real personal blow to them.

"Any attack on Attendance Allowance could not avoid also affecting the care component of Disability Living Allowance, as essentially this is the same benefit for the under 65’s. They would otherwise continue receiving it when they turned 65.

"This abolition would also threaten the position of carers, as caring for someone with Attendance Allowance is a qualifying condition for Carer’s Allowance.

"The UK Government seems to be looking to abolish Attendance Allowance so that it can ‘centralise’ the funds as part of an effort to plug the funding black hole at the centre of social services in south of the Border.  That is not fair on those people in the East End who would be hit by these changes."

Notes:

For further information on the UK Government’s Green Paper on this issue click here.

SNP Bill Kidd MSP has submitted a motion to the Scottish Parliament on this issue.  (The House of Commons in currently in recess.)

S3M-04716 Bill Kidd (Glasgow) (Scottish National Party):
The Need to Protect Attendance Allowance— That the Parliament notes with concern proposals contained in the UK Government’s Green Paper, Shaping the future of care together, to abolish attendance allowance by integrating it into the care and support system in order to fund future support and care for the elderly in England, and that any changes to the care and support system in England that integrate some disability benefits funding would affect the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland and supports the retention of attendance allowance and disability living allowance as benefits which allow disabled persons to retain financial independence.