View from the House: Pensioners should not foot care bill

Dec 3 2009 By Cheryl Gillan, MP for Chesham and Amersham

ONE of the bills introduced by the government in the Queen's Speech, the Personal Care At Home Bill, is intended to help elderly people, but I am worried that it will actually be at the expense of many more people, also elderly, who are currently receiving other benefits.

The idea is to set up a National Care Service. Most older people want to keep living in their own homes if possible, so it sounds like a good idea in theory.

Every service has a cost and the Department of Health has said a National Care Service could cost between £18billion and £20bn in 2014.

Looking at the detail of the bill, however, it becomes clear that this service would be financed by taking away attendance allowance and disability living allowance from other elderly people.

These allowances are allocated on need and are not means tested. The impact of taking them away would be greater because they are paid to the individual to spend as he or she wishes, on ways to give a better quality of life.

According to statistics gathered by the Department of Work and Pensions in May this year, 1,910 people aged over 65 received attendance allowance in Chesham and Amersham, while 400 people in the same age group received disability living allowance.

We need to examine the way we help people with care costs, but asking disabled pensioners to foot the bill is not the way to do it.