Disabled people deserve a fairer interpretation of their mobility than this arbitrary 20 metre rule
The space behind the clerks' table in the House of Lords was occupied last week by three wheelchair-user peers and myself, on a mobility scooter, when the Lords passed my motion calling on the government to hold urgent talks with Disability Rights UK and the Disability Benefits Consortium to ma...
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| Published in | The Guardian (London) |
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| Main Author | |
| Format | Newspaper Article |
| Language | English |
| Published |
London (UK)
Guardian News & Media Limited
10.05.2016
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| Online Access | Get full text |
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| Summary: | The space behind the clerks' table in the House of Lords was occupied last week by three wheelchair-user peers and myself, on a mobility scooter, when the Lords passed my motion calling on the government to hold urgent talks with Disability Rights UK and the Disability Benefits Consortium to make the personal independence payment (Pip) disability benefit test much fairer. Under disability living allowance (the benefit Pip is replacing as it is rolled out across the UK), the relevant walking distance was 50 metres, which was the Department of Transport's guidance on inclusive mobility and an established benchmark. The Pip distance of 20 metres -- around the length of two London buses -- is unrecognised in any other setting and so is pretty meaningless. |
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| ISSN: | 0261-3077 |