The launch of a new report exploring evidence on Attendance Allowance, and the government’s proposal for transferring it to local authorities.

Speakers at this event include:

* Neil Coyle MP, Work and Pensions Committee

* Professor Ruth Hancock, University of East Anglia

* Professor Stephen Pudney, University of Essex

* James Lloyd, Director, Strategic Society Centre

* Simon Bottery, Director of Policy and External Relations, Independent Age

* Chair: Lord David Lipsey

* Others tbc.

This event has been made possible by the Universities of East Anglia and Essex.

Twitter hashtag: #AAresearch

This event is free and open to all; however, registration is required.

The government has proposed transferring Attendance Allowance from the DWP to local authorities, as part of its plans to reform local government financing and give councils new spending responsibilities.

Attendance Allowance is a cash payment that currently supports around 1.23 million older people in England with the costs of living with a disability, regardless of their financial means or whether they receive any care.

In this way, the Attendance Allowance system reaches significantly more people than the local authority adult social care system, represents a different type of public spending and rests on a profoundly different underlying philosophy.

While the government has promised to protect existing recipients, moving Attendance Allowance into local government would represent a historic change affecting millions of older people in future.

This event will see the launch of a new report reviewing academic research on the reach and distributional effects of Attendance Allowance, and evaluating the pros and cons of options for transferring it to local authorities.

The event will explore:

* Research – what does research reveal about the functioning of the Attendance Allowance system? What are the typical characteristics of Attendance Allowance recipients?

* Evaluation - what are the pros and cons of the Attendance Allowance system compared to the adult social care system?

* Transfer - what are the opportunities and risks of handing Attendance Allowance to councils? For example, do local authorities have the capacity to administer cash payments to over a million people in England? Who could be the losers from any transfer of spending responsibilities?

Attendance Allowance: The evidence and the options for local government