Steve Brine, Prospective Conservative MP for the new Winchester & Chandler’s Ford constituency has spoken out against new plans to scrap disability benefits for the elderly. The small print of Government plans to create a National Care Service reveals they will scrap Attendance Allowance and Disability Living Allowance for pensioners to pay for it.
An average £3,400 a year will be snatched away from 2.4 million pensioners – equivalent to a quarter of the average pensioner’s income. In Winchester, this would affect just over 3,000 pensioners – 2,590 who receive Attendance Allowance, worth an average of £60 a week, and 540 who receive Disability Living Allowance, worth an average of £75 a week.
Attendance Allowance and Disability Living Allowance are based on need; they are not means tested and are intended to cover the extra costs arising from the impact the disability has on the life of the disabled person. The key feature of these benefits is that they can be spent by disabled people how they wish, without restrictions, to best support their individual care needs.
Steve Brine (pictured) commented; “Gordon Brown has chosen to penalise one of the most vulnerable groups in our society for the sake of another of his eye-catching announcements. As with every initiative, someone has to pay and, as with many of them, it is once again those who are least able to afford it who are hit. These benefits provide vital support for disabled pensioners, giving them the chance to lead an independent life with the freedom to tailor their care to their needs.
“Of course, we need to do more to help people with their care costs but it is completely wrong to do so at the expense of disabled pensioners. I want to see a much more personalised devolved system of support and will fight hard alongside my colleagues to protect Winchester’s pensioners against the Prime Minister’s plan to scrap benefits for the disabled.”