^Cameron softens stance on mobility pay
By Alex Barker and Jim Pickard
Published: February 17 2011 22:10 | Last updated: February 17 2011 22:10
David Cameron is softening plans to axe mobility payments for disabled people in care homes, in a move to placate Liberal Democrats ? his third policy concession in under a day.
The prime minister?s decision to delay and amend reforms to one component of disability living allowance comes within hours of the coalition scrapping a sale of state-owned woodland and dropping a tough condition for housing benefit.
EDITOR?S CHOICE
Brave welfare reform vision is welcome start - Feb-17.Q&A: Worries remain on welfare reform - Feb-17.Westminster blog: Top ten facts on Universal Credit - Feb-17.Welfare bill ditches housing benefit cut - Feb-17.Benefits means test set to hit family savers - Feb-16.Deprived regions found at risk from cuts - Jan-31..Mr Cameron?s willingness to jettison unpopular proposals, most of which unsettled Lib Dems, reflects a change in style from the chairman-like approach he first brought to Number 10.
A strengthened policy unit in Downing Street and a new strategy director will take a more hands-on role in vetting policy proposals, so potential mistakes and political slip-ups can be spotted early.
Mr Cameron?s U-turns this week are the latest in a list that includes concessions on cutting school sports, mandatory prison terms for knife offenders, free books and milk for schoolchildren, and the appointment of a personal photographer.
However, Downing Street insists these are tactical adjustments, not a strategy change.
?If you launch a consultation and you get a very strong, clear response it?s the right thing to do in government to be a listening government,? said Mr Cameron. ?The big picture . . . is these twin aims of reducing our deficit . . . but at the same time aiming to build a bigger, stronger society.?
Mr Cameron is to burnish his credentials as a pragmatist by bowing to pressure from charities and Lib Dems over plans to scrap the mobility component of DLA for claimants in care homes.
The measures, which were designed to save £135m a year, will now be delayed by a year. A review will also narrow the number of claimants affected and roll the payment into the new personal independence payment, which replaces DLA.
Mr Cameron hinted at the changes in the Commons on Wednesday when asked whether the cuts would hit DLA claimants who had spent their whole lives in care homes.
The measure caused almost as much unease on Lib Dem benches as plans to dock 10 per cent of housing benefit from jobseekers who are unemployed for more than a year ? a £100m proposal also dropped by Mr Cameron on Thursday^
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