Social Security

I am grateful for that intervention and I am aware of the excellent research to which the hon. Gentleman refers. I will turn shortly to the question of how the uprating of benefits affects those who are able to work only a few hours a week. Some important issues need to be considered. For example, the current disability living allowance does not provide support for the communication needs that many disabled people have. Some 4,000 disabled schoolchildren with such needs have been fortunate enough to receive support from the communication aids project, which is funded by the Department for Education and Skills. Unfortunately, such funding ends in March and the Department has no plans to renew it. A review of disability living allowance could—indeed, should—consider whether support for communication needs should be given, in addition to support for care and mobility. In his opening remarks, the Minister pointed out that disability living allowance applies whether one is in work or out of work, and it is true that that is one of that benefit’s potential strengths. However, in the experience of many organisations that help benefit recipients back into work, a return to work can often quickly trigger a new review of entitlement to disability living allowance. That issue needs to be addressed. The uprating of benefits inevitably increases the sums lost to the Exchequer through error and fraud in the benefit system. Although some progress has been made in tackling fraud, it has been insufficient to prevent the Department being criticised strongly by the National Audit Office and the Public Accounts Committee. The latter says that the Department has"““a long way to go””" in this regard. On errors, the picture is even more unclear. In fact, it seems likely that the number of benefit payment errors is increasing. They now account for more losses than does fraud: some £1.5 billion, according to the PAC’s estimate. In a recent debate, the Government pointed out that the figure is actually £1.7 billion. Perhaps the Minister will give the House the Government’s latest estimate of the amount that will be lost through errors in the benefit system as a result of the upratings before us today.