DLA tests should be reconsidered: Durkan

THE decision to introduce medical assessments for new and existing claimants of disability living allowance (DLA) should be reconsidered by the Tory/Liberal coalition says Foyle MP Mark Durkan.

Mr Durkan said: “The intention behind disability living allowance was not to award benefit based on a particular disabling condition but on the extent to which a severely disabled person has personal care or mobility needs as a result of living with their disability.

“Medical assessments and questionnaires cannot in practice be worded perfectly to reflect the legislation and case law.”

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He said it was the role of the decision maker to determine a person's eligibility, based on all the relevant evidence, both medical and non-medical.

“The administrative cost of medical assessments could be better used to make the benefit application process easier for disabled people to complete and to better support the decision maker,” he said.

“I am therefore calling on the government to reconsider its decision to introduce medical assessments for new and existing claimants of disability living allowance,” he concluded.

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