Welfare Reform Bill — Clause 83 — Personal Independence Payment Eligibility — Hospital In-Patient and Care Home Residents — 15 Jun 2011 at 18:00

The majority of MPs voted against a proposed change to eligibility for personal independence payments for hospital in-patients and those in care homes.

MPs were voting on an amendment to the Welfare Reform Bill^[1] proposed by Margaret Curran MP (Glasgow East, Labour). The text of the proposed amendment^[2][3], which was rejected, was:

• page 58, line 40, at beginning insert—
• ‘(3) The condition is that the person is an in-patient of a hospital.
• (4) ’.

This amendment would have acted on the following condition^[4], which if met, would allow regulations to prevent payment of Personal Independence Allowance:

• (2) The condition is that the person is an in-patient of a hospital or similar institution, or a resident of a care home, in circumstances in which any of the costs of any qualifying services provided for the person are borne out of public or local funds by virtue of a specified enactment.
• (3) In this section “care home” means an establishment that provides accommodation together with nursing or personal care.

Subsection (3) begins on line 40, apparently the impact of the amendment would have been to reiterate the "The condition is that the person is an in-patient of a hospital" phrase and remove the definition of a nursing home. One possible explanation for the lack of clarity could be that this amendment could have been intended to interact with other amendments.

During debate Minister Maria Miller MP stated^[5]:

• I turn to amendments 66, 41 and 42. We have already announced that we will not remove the mobility component of DLA from people in residential care from 2012, as originally planned. We have also said that we will re-examine its position within the personal independence payment, which is precisely what we are doing. When that work is complete we will make a final decision, in the context of the full reform of DLA and the introduction of PIP.

MP Peter Bottomley expressed support for the amendment^[6] on the grounds he was concerned those living in a residential home in his constituency providing a range of services for adults with physical disabilities could be excluded from receiving personal independence payments.

The act as eventually passed contains detailed provisions on the eligibility of hospital inpatients and care home residents for personal independence payments.^[7]

• [1] Parliament's webpage on the Welfare Reform Bill (now the Welfare Reform Act)
• [2] Official Record, House of Commons, 15 June 2011
• [3] Amendment Sheet - Consideration of Bill Wednesday 15 June 2011
• [4] Welfare Reform Bill as at 25 May 2011 (prior to the consideration of this amendment)
• [5] Maria Miller MP (Basingstoke, Conservative), House of Commons, 15 June 2011
• [6] Peter Bottomley MP (Worthing West, Conservative), House of Commons, 15 June 2011
• [7] Welfare Reform Act Provisions on "Entitlement and payability" of Personal Independence Allowance
• [8] Consideration of Clause 83 at the Public Bill Committee Prior to this vote

Debate in Parliament | Source |