Written question asked by Lord Laird (Crossbench), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord McKenzie of Luton (Labour) on Wednesday, 26 November 2008.

Benefits: Disability Living Allowance

Question: asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by Lord McKenzie of Luton on 12 November (WA 130-31), what is the maximum annual payment that can be made to a disability living allowance recipient; what information they collate on the types of illness suffered by disability living allowance recipients; and why alcohol dependency is not included.

Answer: The maximum payment of disability living allowance that can be made to a person in a 52-week period is £5,915. This can be paid in addition to any income from other benefits or from employment. Information on the main disabling condition of disability living allowance claimants is currently collated using one of 49 codes. Under this coding system, people with alcohol dependency are grouped together with those who are dependent on drugs and those with alcoholic liver disease. It is, therefore, not possible to disaggregate alcohol dependency from those other conditions. From 20 October 2008 improvements in the use of information technology allowed the Department for Work and Pensions to expand the number of disability codes used for disability living allowance purposes to allow for a more detailed analysis of conditions, including the differentiation between those associated with dependency or abuse of alcohol and drugs.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 705 c296WA; 6436
Session: 2007-08
Related items: Benefits: Disability Living Allowance
Monday, 23 February 2009
Written questions
House of Lords; Benefits: Disability Living Allowance
Wednesday, 12 November 2008
Written questions
House of Lords
Subjects: Disability living allowance Alcoholic drinks Misuse
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk