Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Attendance Allowance – 23 March 1987

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Attendance Allowance on 23rd March 1987.

Mrs. Beckett Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what categories of disabled people his counsel informed the Court of Appeal might be able to claim attendance allowance as a result of the judgment of the court in the Moran case.

Mr. Major In his address to the Court of Appeal following delivery of the judgment in the Moran case, counsel for the Secretary of State indicated that the judgment could affect the attendance allowance entitlement of people who suffer from epilepsy, diabetes, haemophilia, heart attacks and angina, or multi-sensory handicaps; elderly people who suffer attacks of confusion; and children who are mentally handicapped or hyperactive, or who suffer from asthma or cystic fibrosis.

How the judgment might be applied is a matter for the independent Attendance Allowance Board, taking account of the references in the judgment to the importance of the facts of the individual case. We shall be considering our response to the judgment in the light of advice from the Board.

Mrs. Beckett Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what steps he is taking to ensure that disabled people who may be entitled to attendance allowance or to the higher rate of attendance allowance in the light of the judgment of the Court of Appeal in the Moran case receive the allowance to which they are entitled, and that arrears are paid in respect of any underpayment resulting from the interpretation of the law prior to that judgment.

Mr. Major The application of the judgment is a matter for the independent Attendance Allowance Board who will be issuing guidelines to delegated medical practitioners. We are considering the questions which the hon. Member raises.