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In this Report
Commons Written Answers (3 Feb 2003)
Disability Living Allowance
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
(1) what assistance his Department provides for people whose main disabling condition is deafness when requesting help with the disability living allowance application forms; and what the (a) targets and (b) performance figures for these services are for each year since 1997;
(2) what methods of providing information on benefits, with specific regard to disability living allowance, to deaf people (a) have been introduced since 1997 and (b) are planned.
Maria Eagle: The Disability and Carers Service provides assistance for customers who require help completing claim packs. For deaf and hard of hearing customers this can be provided via text phone or face to face at a public counter facility, or, exceptionally, by appointment at the customer's home. Customers calling the Disability Living Allowance/Attendance Allowance Helpline can arrange a call back via textphone at an agreed time to assist with forms completion. Textphone numbers are published on all correspondence. Typetalk and Textdirect can also be used. All Disability and Carer Service public counter facilities are fitted with induction loop systems and portable induction loops are available for home visits. For customers who require a British Sign Language Interpreter for either public counter or home appointments, advance appointments are made depending upon the availability of an interpreter.
The Department also provides a range of information about Disability Living Allowance in accessible formats. A large number of leaflets contain information, including SD1 Sick or disabled which is available from social security offices, Jobcentre Plus offices and most main post offices. Information is also available on the Department's website.
Information about Disability Living Allowance, along with the rest of the Department's benefit and pension information, is currently being reviewed across the Department for Work and Pensions. The review will inform the new corporate communication standards for the production of information in accessible formats.
The statistical information requested is unavailable.
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans there are subsequent to the activities for managing life system trials to bring people whose main disabling condition is deafness who have high communication technology costs but relatively low support needs into DLA entitlement.
Maria Eagle: There are no current plans to alter the entitlement conditions to Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to reflect the costs of communication technology for people whose main disabling condition is deafness. Entitlement to DLA is based on the extent to which a severely disabled person requires attention, supervision or watching over by another person and/or has walking difficulties as a result of their disabilities. Activities for Managing Life (AMLs) is a model for a possible new way of assessing those requirements and difficulties but would not affect the fundamental rule that entitlement depends on each individual's personal care and mobility needs.
Commons Written Answers (4 Feb 2003)
Disability Living Allowance
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Disability Living Allowance appeals were successful on (a) reconsideration and (b) aural tribunal for people whose main disabling condition is deafness in (i) England, (ii) Scotland and (iii) Wales since 1997.
Maria Eagle: The information is not available.
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of people (a) with a disability and (b) whose main disabling condition is deafness received disability living allowance in the United Kingdom in (i) 1997 and (ii) 2002.
Maria Eagle: The information in the following table indicates the total number of people receiving Disability Living Allowance and those whose main disabling condition is deafness or deafness and blindness in Great Britain at 31 August 1997 and 2002. Information for Northern Ireland is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
All DLA recipients: 1997: 1,926,200, 2002: 2,385,800
DLA recipients who are deaf or deaf and blind: 1997: 16,700, 2002: 28,900
Source: IAD Information Centre, data taken from 5 per cent. sample as at 31 August each year. Figures in thousands and rounded to the nearest hundred
It is estimated that there are 8,582,200 disabled adults in Great Britain (aged 16+). This estimate is based on a survey published in 1999 (Grundy, E., Ahlburg, D., Ali, M., Breeze, E. and Sloggett, A. (1999) Disability in Great Britain: Results from the 1996-97 Disability Follow-Up to the Family Resources Survey, Department of Social Security Research Report No.94.), and it is therefore not possible to calculate the proportion of disabled people receiving DLA in 1997 and 2002 from this information, as the data are not comparable. The survey estimated that 34 per cent. of disabled people had a disability related to hearing.
It should be noted that entitlement to Disability Living Allowance is based on the extent to which a severely disabled person requires attention, supervision or watching over by another person and/or has walking difficulties as a result of their disabilities, and not on the disabilities themselves. In addition, the majority of people who are hard of hearing are over the age of 65. People who become disabled after reaching age 65 claim Attendance Allowance instead of Disability Living Allowance. For these reasons, there is no meaningful correlation between the numbers of disabled and deaf people in Great Britain and the numbers receiving Disability Living Allowance.
Commons Hansard (5 Feb 2003)
Disability Living Allowance
Mr. Heald : To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants of disability living allowance there were in each year since its introduction, broken down by local authority area.
Maria Eagle: The information has been placed in the Library.
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
(1) how many deaf people had access to a qualified British Sign Language interpreter at their aural tribunal for disability living allowance; and on how many occasions the expenses of a British Sign Language interpreter have been met by the Appeal Board;
(2) how many appeals by deaf applicants for disability living allowance have been taken to an aural tribunal in each year since 1997.
Maria Eagle: This is a matter for Neil Ward, Chief Executive of the Appeals Service. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Neil Ward to Mr. Malcolm Bruce dated 27 January 2003:
The Secretary of State has asked me to respond to your questions regarding appeals in respect of Disability Living Allowance from deaf people and their access to a qualified British Sign Language interpreter at the oral tribunal hearing where requested.
Any party to a tribunal hearing who is profoundly deaf may request a sign language interpreter. Where such a request is made the Appeals Service will meet the associated costs and aim to provide a qualified, registered interpreter. No information is available on the number of appeals by deaf appellants in respect of Disability Living Allowance. During 2001-02 over £363,000 was spent on the provision of interpreters but this includes language translation where someone is not able to understand English. This financial year, up until 30 November 2002, £326,000 has been spent on the provision of interpreters.
I hope this reply is helpful.
Commons Hansard (11 Feb 2003)
Hospital Treatment (Waiting Times)
Mr. Bill O'Brien (Normanton): If he will make a statement on progress with the reduction of time for patients waiting for admission to hospital for treatment.
The Secretary of State for Health (Mr. Alan Milburn): Waiting times on virtually every indicator continue to fall. The latest figures show that the number of patients waiting more than 12 months for hospital admission has fallen by 62 per cent. in the last year. Almost half of NHS trusts now have no patient waiting more than 12 months for hospital admission ahead of the target set for April this year.
Mr. O'Brien : I thank my right hon. Friend for his response. Although there have been drastic improvements in waiting times, there are still areas that require greater attention. Will he examine the situation, especially in west Yorkshire and in my constituency? Will he also consider the problem of delays for people who are waiting for digital hearing aids, as it could be two years before my constituents receive that service?
Mr. Milburn: First, on digital hearing aids, my hon. Friend will be aware that last week I announced that an extra £94 million will be made available so that the 1.8 million people who are hard of hearing or deaf will get access to digital hearing aids on the national health service, for free. Secondly, on waiting times for treatment, my hon. Friend is right to say that although waiting times across the piece are falling, there are pockets where they remain too long. As a consequence of the announcements that I will make today, from July this year, in his area of west Yorkshire, patients needing eye operations will have the choice of an alternative hospital where the waiting time for treatment is shorter. That will apply not only in parts of the north, but in parts of the south.
Commons Hansard (13 Feb 2003)
Legal and Advice Services (Social Exclusion)
Mr. Cash : As I have a number of constituents who have been affected by emphysema and who have been involved in a class action that has reached vastly complex dimensions, I should be interested to know whether the trade unions have been fully engaged in that, and whether the difficulties facing my constituents are a result of the case not being handled properly in the first place.
Mr. Dismore : I am not sure which case the hon. Gentleman is referring to. If he is referring to some of the miners' compensation cases, I can tell him that a scheme has been devised to handle the vast number of those as effectively as possible. My understanding is that the biggest single problem is producing the medical evidence needed to support the claims, because there are insufficient doctors who specialise in such work. It must be borne in mind that the number of doctors who are prepared to do medico-legal work is relatively limited, and those doctors have to find the time to conduct their normal medical practice and produce the medical force. I know of the frustration experienced by many of those undertaking such claims. It involves not only those involved in emphysema claims-I saw it in the huge scheme involving industrial deafness claims. It is frustrating to get the medical evidence needed to support a claim, but it is difficult to devise a practical way round that, because the medical evidence must be available in order for the scheme to pay out.
Ms Winterton : Perhaps I could be of assistance, as I have some knowledge of the matter from my constituency. Another problem is getting proof of employment history, particularly for older workers.
Lords Hansard (13 Feb 2003)
Digital Hearing Aids
Baroness Howe of Idlicote asked Her Majesty's Government: What arrangements there are, and what finance will be made available, for the roll-out across the country of the programme to introduce digital hearing aids for National Health Service patients.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): My Lords, £94 million has now been made available to ensure that a modernised service providing digital hearing aids will be available from all NHS hearing aids services in England by 2005. All services not yet involved in the project are now being invited to apply for modernisation in 2003-04 or 2004-05.
Baroness Howe of Idlicote: My Lords, I declare an interest as a digital hearing aid user. I thank the Minister for that reply which will greatly encourage the largest, and, until now, among the most neglected and excluded, groups of disabled people in the country. Will the Minister tell us what plans the Government have to ensure that the roll-out of the programme will be sustained well beyond the three-year period? Will he assure the House that after that period eligibility will not, as so often, depend on one's postcode? Will the pilots conducted in Shrewsbury and Leeds, whereby private hearing aid dispensers worked in partnership with NHS audiology departments, be part of the three-year roll-out programme across England?
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: My Lords, the pilots are not yet completed although preliminary results suggest that involving the private sector can be worth while. We shall need to evaluate the pilots before deciding how to take forward the policy. At the end of the roll-out period we expect those services to be appropriately funded by primary care trusts. I fully expect the services to be continued. I certainly accept that, traditionally, this has not been a good area of NHS provision in terms of service and quality. However, I believe that the advances made in the past two years, and those which will be made over the next three years, are significant.
Lord Clement-Jones: My Lords, the Minister's announcement is welcome news. However, we should be clear that congratulations are due to the RNID which has fought a sustained campaign over a number of years to persuade the Government of the benefits of digital hearing aids. It took a long time to persuade the Government of the merits of the case. Has the Minister taken into account the need to apply the lessons that have been learnt in this area over the past few years to other areas of the NHS as regards introducing modern equipment?
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: My Lords, the noble Lord is as churlish as ever with regard to what I consider has been an extremely positive announcement and development. I certainly pay tribute to the RNID. Not only has it been a very effective campaigning organisation, but it has also teamed up with the National Health Service procurement agency to negotiate much lower cost digital hearing aids. I give all credit to the RNID for that. More generally, I believe that this service signals a really significant improvement in provision for those with hearing loss. We have received tremendous support for that.
Lord Ashley of Stoke: My Lords, does my noble friend agree that this is an occasion for genuine congratulations? The fact that every deaf and hard-of-hearing person in Britain will have a digital hearing aid within two years-aids that cost £2,000 before-is a phenomenal achievement. The Government deserve warm congratulations. Does he further agree that the people who deserve most credit are James Strachan and David Livermore, the former chief executive and chairman of RNID, and Alan Milburn, my noble friend's own Secretary of State? This action will do more for deaf people than any single thing in the past 50 years. It is a great achievement.
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: My Lords, I always find it useful to pay tribute to my own boss. I am happy to endorse everything that my noble friend said, save only that he was very modest about his own achievement, which was absolutely pivotal.
Lord Bruce of Donington: My Lords, will the Minister give due acknowledgement to the Post Office engineering department which, in my early days at the Ministry of Health, was responsible for the initial development of the first proper hearing aid?
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: My Lords, I do not quite go back as far as that, but I am happy to add my congratulations to those mentioned by my noble friend.
Earl Howe: My Lords, the programme is indeed very welcome, but can the Minister reassure me that enough technicians will be available to implement it over the next couple of years?
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: My Lords, there is no doubt that that is a real challenge. That is partly why we have rolled out the programme over a number of years. We are taking action to deal with the issue of shortages. We have supported the introduction of a new degree course, and that will raise the number of qualified audiologists in the longer term. In the shorter term, we are looking at skill-mix issues to see whether technicians can take on more responsibility. As suggested by the noble Baroness, Lady Howe, we are also looking at ways in which we can co-operate with the private sector.
Baroness Finlay of Llandaff: My Lords, given the importance of hearing to speech development, will the Minister reassure us that paediatric services currently have the new technology available? A two-year wait in a child's development might mean that he or she misses out on crucial aspects of speech development.
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: My Lords, I certainly understand the need for speed in the area, and that it is particularly important for children. The roll-out is deliberately timed to make sure that the NHS is able to cope with the extra demands placed on it. I will look into the matter that the noble Baroness has raised, but I think it important that there is a phased introduction.
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