Charities call for reform of benefits rules causing misery to severely disabled children and their families

From a press release I have just recieved about a joint campaign by Contact A Family and The Children’s Trust:

Some of the UK’s most severely disabled and sick children and their families are being denied financial help when they need it most.

A child’s Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is stopped after 84 days in hospital and subsequently the parents’ Carer’s Allowance is suspended. This is despite the extra costs to a family when their child is in hospital such as loss of earnings, travel, parking and food.

Contact a Family and The Children’s Trust, Tadworth are calling for the rules to be scrapped. The charities have submitted a response as part of their Stop the DLA Takeaway campaign¹ to the Department of Work and Pensions’ ‘21st Century Welfare’ consultation , which proposes significant reforms to the benefits system.

Srabani Sen, Chief Executive of Contact a Family, said: “The DLA regulations are penalising vulnerable families at very distressing times of their lives. Not only are they dealing with a very sick child and in some cases faced with the prospect of losing their child, they are being pushed to their financial limits.

“Families whose children have complex health needs are already less able to work and more likely to be reliant on benefits.”

Contact a Family and The Children’s Trust estimate that there are between 400 and 500 UK families affected each year.² But with many families pushed to the brink, some may be taking the risk of not informing the authorities when their child is admitted to hospital.³

Taking all this into account, the charities estimate that the cost to the Government to amend the regulations would be no more than £2.5million to £3.1million per year.⁴

Andrew Ross, Chief Executive of The Children’s Trust, said: “These DLA regulations are adding to the difficulties of families when they are in most need of stability and support. The Government has pledged to make the welfare system work for those who need it most. Here is a clear opportunity to do just that.”

For further information telephone 020 7608 8741.