During Prime Minister's Questions, Alison Griffiths, MP for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton raised the case of local man, Victor Franklin.
Many residents will already know the story of Victor Franklin. Victor lives in Bognor, and became severely disabled following a horrific dog attack.
The injuries he suffered led to multiple amputations. His story has touched our community deeply.
His family contacted Alison to share concerns that pensioners like Victor, who become severely disabled after retirement, are currently excluded from claiming Personal Independence Payment (PIP) - a gateway to other essential forms of support.
With Victor’s permission, at Prime Minister’s Questions, Alison urged the Prime Minister to review this unfair rule. She will continue to raise his case, and the circumstances around it, with Government.
Alison explained,
"My constituent Victor Franklin was made severely disabled after a savage dog attack left him with multiple amputations. Will the Prime Minister explain why pensioners, such as Victor, who become severely disabled after retirement are excluded from claiming personal independence payment and are instead limited to the lesser support of attendance allowance, and will he commit to reviewing that unfair rule?"
The Prime Minister replied,
"May I extend my thoughts to Victor and the awful circumstances that the hon. Lady describes, which must be extremely challenging. We do have to reform the system because it is not working—I think there is general agreement about that—but the principles must be clear: we protect and secure those in need of protection and security; we help those who can work into work; and we believe that those who can work should work. We have to reform the current system to make it better, because what we have does not work."
