SNP candidate for Glasgow Central, Osama Saeed, has hit out against Labour plans to scrap attendance allowance for 2,600 elderly and disabled people in the constituency.
The plans, announced by Gordon Brown, will see attendance allowance scrapped to fund a National Care Service in England with no consideration of Scottish pensioners.
Figures from the Department for Work and Pensions and the Institute for Social and Economic Research show that 167,940 people in Scotland receive attendance allowance. Independent research by ISER shows that removing attendance allowance would push 40% of those people into poverty, or 67,000 Scots. In Glasgow Central this amounts to 1,040 people.
In addition to removing attendance allowance Scotland’s carers could also be affected. Receipt of AA by the disabled person is one of the grounds for receipt of Carer’s Allowance by the carer and its removal could affect 46,300 carers in Scotland.
The proposals have been opposed by Age Concern, Help the Aged, Royal National Institute for the Blind, MacMillan Cancer Support and Leonard Cheshire Disability.[1]
Commenting, Osama Saeed said:
“This will be terrible news for some of Glasgow's most vulnerable people. It is inconceivable that instead of tackling poverty, Labour is planning to push 67,000 Scots – some of our most vulnerable residents – into poverty and remove funding from a further 100,000.
“Over 2,500 residents in Glasgow Central will really suffer under these plans. This is a clear sign of how little the UK Government considers its impact on Scotland and in particular on vulnerable Scots."
ENDS
Notes1. Charities who deal with elderly and disabled people have united in opposition to Labour’s plans:
Age Concern and Help the Aged are opposed to the move, pointing out that ‘That extra bit of help may help prevent, or delay the need for more formal care.’
The Royal National Institute for Blind People (RNIB) is actively campaigning against the proposals as some 53,000 blind and partially sighted people across the UK receive AA.
Macmillan Cancer Support has also expressed concern, fearing that removing AA ‘would leave many cancer patients over 65 unable to pay for the extra costs of disability, such as a special diet, higher fuel bills or travel to hospital.’
Leonard Cheshire Disability stated in their response to the Green Paper they would be ‘strongly opposed’ to integrating AA into the social care system – adding: ‘…it simply does not make sense to look to remove elements that are actually working successfully at present.’
2. Attendance Allowance (AA) is a non means tested tax free benefit paid to people over the age of 65 requiring help from another person due to severe mental or physical disability. It is paid directly into an account of the recipient’s choice. It is paid at two different rates:
The Higher rate applies to those needing help both day and night. The Lower rate applies to those needing help either day or night.
- Higher rate: £70.35 per week
- Lower rate: £47.10 per week
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