Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to consult on the proposals to reform attendance allowance that were referred to in the consultation on the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2016-17 and an offer to councils for future years, published in December 2015; whether that consultation will include an assessment of the potential effects of those proposals on older people; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones

In December, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government announced that the Government will be consulting on giving councils in England “more responsibility to support older people with care needs – including people who, under the current system, would be supported through Attendance Allowance”. We want to explore if there is a better way to provide support for older people with care needs through local integration and we intend to launch a consultation on this in due course. Any change would not affect those already receiving Attendance Allowance. The consultation will be an open process that will give everybody a voice in determining the nature of any reform and will inform the decision about whether and how to proceed with any reform.