SOUTH West Surrey MP Jeremy Hunt called for a simpler benefits system for disabled people during a ten minute speech to Parliament last week. Mr Hunt made the plea during his first ever Ten Minute Rule Bill to the House of Commons, when an MP introduces a bill on a topic of their choice from the backbenches and gives a speech in support of their proposal. In his speech Mr Hunt proposed the Department for Work and Pensions should set up an IT programme so disabled people are only asked questions about their disability once – with the information only being shared between different government departments with the permission of the person involved. Mr Hunt believes this would stop unnecessary repetition, frustration and wasted resources. Only one Ten Minute Rule Bill may be introduced on any one day, so to secure this much sought after slot, MPs must be first in the queue at the Public Bill Office on the Tuesday or Wednesday morning three weeks prior to the date when they wish to present their bill. In his speech, Mr Hunt said: "Disabled people are constantly frustrated, let down and even humiliated by a system that asks them to repeat in writing their disability in a thousand different ways, that squanders money on official error, waste and fraud, and then singularly fails to reach those disabled people in the greatest need." The Bill has attracted support from many disability organisations, including the Disability Rights Commission, Scope and the Every Disabled Child Matters campaign. Steve Broach, campaign manager of 'Every Disabled Child Matters', said: "The Every Disabled Child Matters campaign welcomes and applauds the efforts by Jeremy Hunt and a group of cross-party MPs to highlight the need for a simpler benefits system for families with disabled children. "The shocking statistics collected by Jeremy's team show how much time families are forced to waste on duplicate benefit applications. "We urge ministers to consider how government can respond to ensure that the benefits get to those families in greatest need without families having to repeat their information on endless forms." Abigail Lock, parliamentary manager at the leading disability organisation Scope, said: "Scope supports efforts to simplify the assessment procedures faced by many disabled people. "Jeremy Hunt's research has highlighted the many hurdles disabled people have to overcome just to claim what they are entitled to. "Scope has found that the current situation can resign disabled people to poverty either because they are not claiming benefits that they are eligible for, or because those disabled people that want to work are discouraged from doing so, because of the bureaucracy involved and because they fear that moving into work could jeopardise their future entitlements. "While a joined-up approach is greatly needed, any system must ensure that disabled people's personal details are protected."
