Steve Brine MP has secured important safeguards for people suffering from autism as Government changes to the benefits system are brought forward.
Changes in the Welfare Reform Bill propose replacing Disabled Living Allowance and its associated benefits with one new 'Personal Independence Payment'. Transfer will, in the vast majority of cases, require an interview to take place and the Winchester & Chandler's Ford MP wanted to make sure the very specific needs of autism sufferers are taken into account.
He said in the House of Commons on Mon 28 March: "Severe autism sufferer, Alastair Bolan, and his family came to my surgery in Winchester on Friday afternoon. Like many families living with the condition, they are anxious about the move to personal independence payments. They made the case to me passionately that a one-to-one interview for Alastair would be an absolute disaster, as it would be for many like him who have been granted permanent disability living allowance with good reason. I know that the Minister is good at reaching out to organisations, so will she reassure me that she will continue to engage with the all-party group and autism charities to minimise the uncertainty that some people feel?"
In reply, Maria Miller, Minister for Disabled People at the Dept of Work and Pensions said; "I can reassure my hon. Friend that both I and officials have met representatives from the National Autistic Society, which has put forward helpful thoughts on the new assessment. It has asked for the people who carry out the assessments to be trained in autism, for individuals to be able to bring somebody to a face-to-face assessment, and for them to be able to use the best supporting evidence. We agree 100% with its proposals."
Speaking afterwards Mr Brine, who is Vice Chair of the All-Party Autism group in Parliament, said; "The Minister's answer was surprisingly direct and straight-forward. I will most certainly monitor this closely but I hope families living with autism locally will take some reassurance from this on the record exchange between their MP and Government."
Pictured; Steve Brine MP addresses the House of Commons.