02 May 2008
The Westminster government should restore £30m in benefits withdrawn from elderly people in Scotland when Holyrood introduced free personal care, according to the architect of the flagship policy.
In a report published on April 28, Lord Sutherland of Houndwood said it was 'clearly contrary to equity' that people in Scottish care homes were denied Attendance Allowance while those in care homes elsewhere in the UK received it.
He suggested the Scottish government should in the short term seek the reinstatement of the £30m, which was withdrawn in 2002. His report also identified a funding shortfall of £40m, partially caused by demand for free personal care being higher than expected.
Lord Sutherland was appointed by the Scottish National Party administration to head an independent review of the policy, which has suffered from funding problems and controversy over waiting lists in some local authority areas.
His call for the restoration of £30m will reignite the row between Holyrood and Westminster that broke out when the former Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition introduced free personal care.
In its report, the review team says: 'While the Department for Work and Pensions may have acted to apply the letter of the law… there is clearly still inequity and the Scottish budget is bearing the brunt of that in terms of £30m a year in lost state benefits.
'It is clearly contrary to equity that entitlement to Attendance Allowance has stopped for those in care homes in Scotland, while it continues for those residing in care homes elsewhere in the UK.'
However, the DWP said it did not intend to change its stance. The minister for disabled people, Anne McGuire, a Scottish MP, said Attendance Allowance and Disability Living Allowance were not paid to care home residents who received help from public or local funds towards the costs of accommodation, board or personal care, whether they lived in Scotland, England or anywhere else in the UK.
But most political groups in Scotland backed Sutherland's call. SNP work and pensions spokesman Angus MacNeil, a Westminster MP, said: 'Quite clearly this money belongs to Scotland and it should be reinstated now for the benefit of our elderly people.'
Labour's Margaret Curran and Scottish Liberal Democrat Ross Finnie agreed. 'Surely now is the time for UK ministers to admit that they are wrong and pay up,' said Finnie.
In his report, Lord Sutherland said there was a shortfall of £40m in the funding of free personal care but he concluded that the policy was sound, affordable and an essential part of planning for demographic change.
He identified costs of £256m for 2006 but warned that these were forecast to rise to £813m by 2031.
PFmay2008
