It can be frustrating to be out of pocket for reasons beyond your control. Everyone reading this will have had a row at some stage with a shop worker refusing to give you a refund because you can’t find a receipt, or your mobile network thinking you definitely did want to pay for that additional insurance you don’t actually need without knowing about it. It’s annoying, unfair and you are often left feeling powerless.
But all these minor annoyances pale into insignificance compared to losing a large chunk of your income and having absolutely nothing you can do about it.
This is the reality that could be faced by many disabled people living in Wales if the Westminster Government continues with the plans to remove eligibility for legal aid in welfare benefit cases.
The current reforms to the welfare system are an important reminder of why specialist legal support is needed. Already, the Westminster Government is planning to slash £20bn from their welfare bill by changing benefit entitlements. Now, when people suspect they have been on the receiving end of an inaccurate decision, they will have to fight a system that requires nearly 9,000 pages of guidance – and fight it without any help from someone who understands the Government’s rules.
We already know that the scale of inaccurate decision making in the benefits system is immense. For example, the assessment for eligibility of out of work benefits, the Work Capability Assessment, has been outsourced and its decisions are prone to administrative error and inaccuracy. When taken to tribunal, 40% of original decisions are overturned in favour of the claimant.
According to Department of Work and Pensions statistics 39% of people who were on Incapacity Benefit are being found fit to work. This may mean a transfer to Jobseekers Allowance instead of Incapacity Benefit, a cut of £26 or £40 a week in benefits (depending on your age). According to research by Sheffield Hallam University, the proposals will mean a reduction of 75,000 in the number on Incapacity Benefit in Wales.
The report also highlights that the reforms will have a greater impact on some regions, including Wales.
When such large numbers of people are being moved off of Incapacity Benefit, many may feel that their individual decision is unfair. The route to challenge this is through a tribunal and currently, and as already stated, 40% of cases are being overturned.
The plans to remove eligibility for legal aid for challenging these decisions means it will become very difficult for anyone who thinks that their decision has been incorrect to challenge or fight it. Legal aid is an important lifeline for many people, particularly those on low incomes. It allows them to stand up for themselves against a system that they may see as arbitrary and unfair and helps them get the right support.
Last year, 58% of all those who received legal aid advice on welfare benefit cases were disabled people. That’s 78,000 disabled people in total who needed help from legal aid advisers to challenge benefits decisions.
We don’t want to see disabled people parked on benefits instead of working, what we want to see is people on the right benefits, getting the right support and empowered to challenge decisions when they need to.
Benefit rules are complicated, molded by legislation, regulation and case law, with the intention of helping government to reach those who need it most. This is why it seems wrong to deprive those who are disabled and on low incomes access to specialist legal support when they need it the most. When benefits are being re-assessed, it is vital that people can be sure of receiving the benefit to which they’re entitled and suited to their circumstances.
Scope Cymru, alongside many other charities, has worked hard to persuade the Westminster Government to amend both the welfare reform bill and the legal aid bill. Both bills are now in the House of Lords and we continue our efforts.
Through the Hardest Hit marches in London in May and in Cardiff (and elsewhere) in October, disabled people have made their anger known at changes in welfare. It is now vital that we stand together to oppose the removal of legal aid from welfare benefit cases.
We need you – and everyone you know – to take a seat in our virtual House of Lords and demonstrate that the Westminster Government simply must think again.
Take the action and ask all your friends, family members, colleagues and Twitter followers (if you’re the type to read this, you’re probably the type to have Twitter, let's be honest) to do the same.
We need to win this.
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