A GROUP representing users of mental health services in Darlington has been given the opportunity to influence Government policy on how a disability allowance is administered.

The group held a meeting with officials from the Depart-ment of Work and Pensions, who travelled to Darlington to discuss the Disability Living Allowance (DLA).

The Darlington group claims the allowance is geared to people with physical, rather than mental disabilities, and wants to see changes to the claim form, the way people are assessed and the tribunal procedure.

Officials from London spent the whole day in Darlington discussing the concerns.

Development worker Louise Graham said: "It went really well, they were very pleased with our feedback and have agreed to take a lot of information away with them to work with."

She said the DLA forms are about to undergo a redesign and that the feedback from the meetings would prove useful. The department said it would continue to work with the Darlington group.

Ms Graham said: "It's going to be a long time before things change for people applying for this benefit, but we were given the reassurance that any changes would be consulted on.

"But in the next few years we will gradually be seeing changes for the better, particularly for people with mental health problems."

Andy Collins, spokesman for the department of work and pensions, said: "The meeting was very positive and wide ranging and raised a number of points, which we are now looking at.

"We will be replying as soon as we have had a chance to consider them in detail.

"We are always happy to listen to constructive suggestions from our customers to improve our service to them."