Clause 12
Welfare Reform Bill
6:15 pm
Tony McNulty (Minister of State (Employment and Welfare Reform; Minister for London), Department for Work and Pensions; Harrow East, Labour)
I fully take on board the hon. Gentleman’s statement that those who will be directly affected by such changes should have as much information and awareness as possible at the earliest opportunity, and I shall ensure that that happens. If information is already available, I will certainly pass it on.
As the hon. Member for Rochdale said, the change has a 10-year transition period, and the average length of awards is about six years. Although no new awards will be made from April 2010, we will not end existing awards until April 2020. As has been alluded to, some 4 per cent. of the total carer’s allowance payments to some 17,400 people include an adult dependency increase. As the hon. Gentleman said, about half of carers who receive the increase are no better off because it reduces the income-related benefit payable to them in other ways.
There is a lot to be said for the simplification, and the hon. Gentleman alluded to that in terms of income support and pension credit. Using savings from the change in that regard would pre-empt what we are trying to do with the income taskforce, and all that we are doing for carers, but it would be a useful element to consider. As the hon. Member for Forest of Dean said, allowances for carers were introduced in 1948, and even the densest Members of the House—I am sure that there are none in the Committee—would agree that family patterns have moved on ever so slightly since then. That is as may be, but the point about taking something away from people without them knowing is a fair one. None the less, simplification for all the individuals concerned and the ability of the poorest to access other benefits outweigh the concerns of a small number of people who potentially, depending on the length of the award, could lose out. In that context—along with the clearer picture on the ADI for maternity allowance—simplification is a public policy goal to which everyone should agree.