Disability Living Allowance Reform

What’s it all about?
In December 2010, the Government published details on its proposals to reform Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and to replace it with a new benefit, Personal Independence Payment (PIP). These proposals were open for public consultation until Friday 18th February and will be taken through Parliament as part of the Welfare Reform Bill.

CLIC Sargent welcomed the clear support for retaining the principle of DLA as a non-means tested cash benefit contributing to the extra costs incurred by disabled people, however, we have some serious concerns that the reforms as drafted will significantly disadvantage children and young people with cancer.

We have responded to the consultation on this issue and will be working with MPs and Peers as the Welfare Reform Bill goes through Parliament.¹

This section includes:

• The key issues of the proposed reform
• What CLIC Sargent is asking for 
  
• A Q&A page about what the reform could mean for children and young people with cancer and their families

The Government’s proposals are currently in draft form and will not come into force for a number of years.

Key issues

• Every day 10 families are told their child has cancer. Usually treatment starts straight away. It is often in the first few weeks after diagnosis when families can incur significant financial costs as their child has to spend a lot of time at hospital for tests and clinical appointments.
• 83% of families will have considerable extra costs associated with their child’s cancer treatment, and 63% of families will experience financial difficulties following diagnosis.¹ This is coupled with parents often cutting back on working hours to care for their child (9/10 parents do so), leading to loss of income.
• The DLA can be a lifeline for children and young people with cancer and their families. CLIC Sargent is concerned that the proposal to increase the qualifying period from 3 to 6 months will particularly disadvantage those whose condition is sudden-onset.
• CLIC Sargent is concerned that many of the children, young people and families we work with will either become ineligible for the benefit at all (for shorter treatment periods) and those who can still claim will have to wait much longer before they can apply and receive the benefit.
• The assessment process for the benefit needs to take into account the reality of a complex and fluctuating condition like cancer. It needs to keep a system of self-assessment and to make use of the expertise and knowledge of those health and care professionals already involved in supporting the applicant.

¹Whilst the Bill will set up the overarching framework for the new system, a lot of the detail will be covered in regulations.
²Eiser C; Upton P (2007) Costs of caring for a child with cancer: a questionnaire survey, Child: care, health and development 2007; 33(4):455-9. top of page