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12.8 pm
Mr. Simon Burns (West Chelmsford): I congratulate the hon. Member for Moray (Mrs. Ewing) on securing this important debate, which has drawn together views, ideas, criticisms and comments from hon. Members on both sides. I hope that the Government will feel that the debate has been useful and helpful, as we try to sort out some of the problems that have emerged with the unit.
Comments from Labour Members, from my hon. Friends the Members for Tiverton and Honiton (Mrs. Browning) and for Maidenhead (Mrs. May), and from hon. Members from other parties have shown that there is considerable concern in many parts of the country about the effects of the project at the sharp end. The Government have not handled it in the best way possible. There is great confusion, fear and consternation among people with disabilities and the pressure groups representing them as a result of increasing uncertainty about the Government's intentions on disability benefits and the actions of the unit. If anything positive is to come from the debate, we should have assurances from the Government that those who rely on those vital benefits will not have them cut because of Treasury-imposed spending targets.
The operation of the benefit integrity project over the past nine months is a prime example of the Government's haphazard and unsatisfactory approach to the issue. Under the previous Government, expenditure on disability and sickness benefits increased dramatically over 10 years from £7 billion a year to £20 billion. In 1992, the categories of people who could claim disability benefits were extended. The measure was accompanied by a successful publicity campaign, which increased people's awareness of the benefits to which they were entitled. Equally importantly, that was part of a process of trying to take away the stigma from claiming benefits--a problem which is particularly prevalent among the elderly and disabled people, who often do not claim the benefits to which they are entitled, out of pride or a feeling that they are begging for help. That is a misguided view. Politicians and others should do everything that they can do to remove that perceived stigma.
The hon. Member for Corby (Mr. Hope) seems to be unaware of the history of the unit. My hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead dealt with the point, but I should like to put the facts on record, because, as success has many fathers and failure is an orphan, they are being forgotten. The benefit integrity project was proposed by the previous Government, who set up a pilot survey, because it was crucial to ensure that the benefits system for disabled people was monitored and that the right benefits went to the right people. The results of that pilot survey came forward in January last year. The general election intervened before the unit, in its current modus
operandi, was put into place. That modus operandi was established by the current Government, not the previous one. That should not be forgotten by a Government notorious for spinning whatever line they want to avoid responsibility for their failures.
Under the Labour Government, the benefit integrity project has been turned into a purely cost-cutting vehicle for reducing expenditure on disability living allowance. That becomes clearer after even a limited examination of the project, which is targeted only at those on the highest or middle rate of the care component of DLA and the higher rate of the mobility component. It is clear that, after examination by the project, those on the highest rates of the two components can only have their benefits reduced. There is no way in which they could be increased. Limiting the scope of the BIP to those categories illustrates that it is part of the Government's policy of trying to reduce the benefits bill.
The Government's approach to disability benefits is in keeping with their overall approach to other aspects of welfare reform. It has become increasingly clear in the past few months that the Department of Social Security is working to the agenda of the Treasury and the Chancellor, which is designed to save a war chest for the Government to spend in the run-up to the next general election. The Government pay lip service to the rhetoric of an intellectually based welfare review which will seek to address the long-term problems of an escalating welfare budget. However, all that we have seen over the past nine months is a salami-slicing exercise for benefits picked by the Treasury, which has been implemented by the Department of Social Security on the orders of the Treasury.
Mr. Hope:
Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr. Burns:
No. I do not have much time.
The benefit integrity project is not the only means that the Government have used to target people with disabilities for savings on the benefit bill. In November, various proposals were leaked to the press, including the taxing, means-testing and time-limiting of certain disability benefits. There was also a proposal that the DLA cash benefit might be exchanged for care services administered by local authorities. We all understand the seriousness of the implications of such policies for disability benefits, particularly the DLA and disability working allowance. The principle behind those benefits is to level the playing field for those with benefits and those without by meeting the additional expenditure caused by the extra needs of people with disabilities. Denying someone those benefits would put them at a disadvantage and would eliminate the level playing field that we should all be seeking to create.
The leaking of such proposals and the floating of such rumours has done nothing but harm. There is still a great deal of uncertainty surrounding the issue, which the Government are doing little to allay. Only last week in the Social Security Select Committee, the Secretary of State and the Minister for Welfare Reform were unable to confirm or deny stories about the means-testing of DLA. I hope that the Minister will take the opportunity of this debate to confirm whether the Government plan to means-test DLA.
The operation of the unit under the current Government has been geared towards saving money. That has been carried out in several ways. We are grateful for the Secretary of State's announcement on 9 February of changes to the existing system. We also appreciate the letter dated 2 March, which we got yesterday afternoon, which also recognises that there have been serious problems with the administration of the system. In an appendix, it lists extra ways in which the Government hope to safeguard the operation and the work of the existing unit. No doubt the Minister will elaborate further on the contents of the letter and the Government's proposals.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Social Security (Mr. John Denham):
I welcome this opportunity to speak to the House about the benefit integrity project. I congratulate the hon. Member for Moray (Mrs. Ewing) on obtaining this debate on a matter of wide public interest. I also congratulate her on setting a constructive and helpful tone, which has generally been followed for the past hour and a half.
I acknowledge that the benefit integrity project has been the subject of debate, controversy and concern, much of which has been reflected in speeches made from both sides of the House. I have had a great many requests to respond in my summing up to many specific issues. I shall not be able to do so in the time available, but I give an assurance that all issues raised about the delivery of the project will rightly be given careful consideration. In the time available, I will clarify the reasons for the benefit integrity project and, equally importantly, lay to rest many of the fears about its purpose and intent. I shall look at the experience of the project to date, and set out how the Government have responded and will respond to that experience.
First, and most importantly, I want, through this debate, to reassure disabled people. The benefit integrity project is simply about ensuring that disabled people receive the right amount of disability living allowance--the amount to which they are entitled. It is not an anti-fraud drive; it is not a cuts exercise by another name; it is not part of the Government's wider agenda of welfare reform, or a precursor of it. It is concerned with disabled people and their entitlement to benefit under rules that Parliament has
laid down. No rules on the entitlement to DLA have been changed. The responsibility for decision making rests with the people who have always exercised that responsibility.
Mr. John Swinney (North Tayside):
Will the Minister say why DLA has been singled out to be checked and clarified while other benefits have not? It leads to suspicion that the Government have some ulterior motive.
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