Citizens Advice Scotland And Sickness And Disability Benefits

EDM number 496 in 2003-04, proposed by Archy Kirkwood on 27/01/2004.

That this House welcomes Citizens Advice Scotland's recent report, Riding the Benefits Roller-coaster, looking at experiences of Scottish Citizens Advice Bureaux clients in claiming sickness and disability benefits; notes that sick and disabled people are missing out on benefits they are entitled to due to a lack of understanding of the current system; further notes the uncertainty caused by the processes for reviewing on-going entitlement to these benefits; further notes with concern the conflicting guidance given to general practitioners about their role in providing medical evidence for appeals against disablity benefits decisions and the difficulty this creates for people in the process of appealing; recognises the impact of these problems on sick and disabled people and on their carers and communities across the United Kingdom; applauds the valuable role played by Citizens Advice Bureaux in advising clients about sickness and disability benefits; considers that the Government should reconsider the processes for reviewing entitlement to sickness benefits to mitigate the effects of the current procedures on legitimate benefits claimants and should further consider working with the devolved administrations in clarifying the responsibilities of general practitioners in relation to providing further evidence to patients challenging disability benefits decisions; and calls on the Government to take action to raise awareness of entitlement to disability-related benefits.

This motion has been signed by a total of 46 MPs.