Carers and Child Poverty Charities Welcome Government’s Change of Heart on Parents of Disabled Children

Lord McKenzie of Luton, The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Department for Work and Pensions, recently issued a statement in the House of Lords that has been welcomed by carers of disabled children and child poverty charities.

He said:

We realise that lone parents caring for younger children who receive disability living allowance may find fitting work-related activity around their caring responsibilities more difficult. We have already introduced a number of safeguards to ensure that lone parents can balance these responsibilities. After careful consideration, we have now decided to ensure that lone parents on income support who have a child under the age of 16 and in receipt of any rate of care component of disability living allowance will not be required to undertake work-related activities. Of course, they will still be offered full support to help them to prepare for work, which they can take up on a voluntary basis. As it was previously our intention that the exemption relating to children in receipt of the middle and highest rate DLA care component be dealt with in regulations, it is our intention that this procedure be applied to cover the extension to children in receipt of the lowest rate care component of DLA.

Kate Green, Chief Executive of the Child Poverty Action Group, said:

“While there is much that we continue to disagree with in the current welfare reform bill we welcome this statement that recognises the difficulties some parents with disabled children would experience juggling caring responsibilities alongside fulfilling the requirement to engage in work-related activities. We appreciate the Government’s willingness to show such an open mind in this instance.

Lord McKenzie’s statement removes the prospect of lone parents with disabled children having their benefit sanctioned through no fault of their own. Awards from the DLA often fluctuate between the levels of DLA, particularly in the case of children with hidden disabilities such as autism and ADHD.

DLA provides valuable protection to families facing a high risk of poverty, and it made little sense to threaten such families with benefit sanctions. The amendment will not only make families lives easier, but it will render complex new systems easier to administer.”

I must agree with Kate Green and all those who welcome this statement. It is good progress for carers- those who already do such an important unpaid job, often with very little support and while experiencing a great deal of emotional pain at watching their children and family members live with the effects of severe disability. They all deserve all the support and appreciation they can get.

Thanks to  Will Straw for the information.