5-08-03

“Edinburgh’s disabled lose out on £2 million a year” – Barrett

John Barrett, Scottish Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West, today released shocking new figures which showed that disabled people miss out on up to £2 million every year.

Answers to parliamentary questions tabled by Mr Barrett have shown that £53 million of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) was claimed by disabled people in the Capital last year.  DLA is paid to disabled people who have trouble looking after themselves or getting around.

However, further information obtained from the House of Commons Library has shown that a study for the Department for Work & Pensions' found 19% of claimants were receiving less money than their disability would entitle them to. 
The figures corresponded to £2 million of DLA money which disabled people in Edinburgh deserve but are not getting because of mistakes with payments.

In a statement, John Barrett MP said:

"These figures are nothing short of scandalous and will worry all of us who believe disabled people should get the help they need to make life easier.

"The whole point of disability living allowance is to give those with a physical or mental illness or other disability a helping hand.  However, the Government's own figures now show that almost one in five disabled people who take the time to fill out the 40 page application form are still being short changed.  Disabled people in Edinburgh are now losing out on millions of pounds every year.

"The Department for Work & Pensions would do well to look at the whole way DLA applications are considered and whether improvements can be made.  One thing is for sure, doing nothing is not an option."

ENDS

Notes to Editors

• John Barrett asked the following parliamentary question:

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much money was claimed in disability living allowance in Scotland in 2002-03, broken down by local authority.

Maria Eagle: The information is in the table.

Disability living allowance: estimated expenditure in Scotland in the financial year, April 2002 to March 2003, by local authority area £ million
Local authority Expenditure
City of Edinburgh	53
Total Scotland	800
TOTAL UK	7,046

Notes:
1. Expenditure has been assigned to local authority areas by matching postcodes against the relevant Office of National Statistics postcode directory.
2. Figures are based on a 5 per cent. sample and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation.
3. Because of relatively small sample sizes at local authority level, the figures are subject to a greater margin of error than would be associated with national level expenditure estimates; all results are rounded to the nearest £1 million, but may not be accurate to this level.
4. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
Source:
Information and Analysis Directorate, GB estimated outturn expenditure for 2002-03 apportioned using local authority data from the DLA Quarterly Statistical Enquiry.

• The Disability Living Allowance Periodic Enquiry Statistics (Sep 2002) obtained from the House of Commons library, showed that 3.5% of all DLA statistics were considered to see if the correct entitlements had been calculated

The report concluded that 19% of the 88,346 they looked at were not receiving their correct entitlement.  This resulted in a net £178,166 extra being paid per week.

If a £178,166 increase was required for 3.5% of cases, then 100% of cases would require a £5,090,457 per week increase.

Edinburgh receives 0.752% of all DLA spending (£53 million / £7.046 billion)

Therefore, Edinburgh's share of the required increase is
£ 5,090,457 x 0.752% = £38,280 per week
£ 38,178 x 52 weeks = £1,990,572 per year