New survey: Government cuts will force disabled people further into poverty
31 August 2011
A new survey (read the BBC story here) from the Papworth Trust shows that, if Disability Living Allowance payments were reduced or stopped under Government proposals to replace it with a Personal Independence Payment, 85% of disabled people will have to cut back on essentials such as food or being able to get out and about.
Commenting on the findings, Richard Hawkes, Chief Executive of disability charity Scope, said:
“These findings should come as no surprise. DLA is a lifeline that covers the extra costs disabled people face on a daily basis – such as getting out and about when public transport is inaccessible.
“DLA needs reforming – but the Government’s plans are in danger of backfiring.
“It is proposing to decide who gets the payment using a ‘guestimate’ that won’t tell you anything about how much more it costs a disabled person to live their lives.
“The reforms will create a poorly targeted payment, which will see many disabled people lose out on vital financial support.
“The Government made exactly the same mistake with the Work Capability Assessment – an over-simplistic test to work out who is fit for work.
“We urge the Government to reconsider the draft test and seriously look into alternatives that would provide more targeted support, and which would reduce costs without risking disabled people’s independence.”
Notes to the Editor:
- DLA was introduced in 1992 because the day-to-day cost of living is more expensive if you are disabled. For example: This can include anything from increased electricity bills, running medical equipment and doing laundry more often, to increased transport costs, specialist clothing and having to buy more expensive ready-made food, which is easier to cook.
- 3.1 million people currently receive DLA.
- One of the proposals in the Welfare Reform Bill is to reform Disability Living Allowance into Personal Independence Payments.
- The Government says this will enable it to “ensure support continues to be focused on those who face the greatest challenges to taking part in everyday life”.
- As part of this process the Government is planning to cut the budget and case load by up to 20%
- We think that the assessment the the Government is planning to use is flawed.
- DWP briefings show that the new PIP assessment will be based on the “impact of a health condition or impairment on an individual’s ability to carry out a range of activities which are fundamental to everyday life”
- Recent research we carried out with Demos showed that measuring the impact of impairment alone will tell you little or nothing about the extra costs a disabled person faces.
- That is why we want the PIP assessment to take into consideration all the factors that lead to disability related costs such as:
1. Suitability of housing
2. Access to transport
3. Informal network of support
4. Employment status
5. Caring arrangements
- Each of these factors creates extra costs for disabled people that may not be connected to the impact of the impairment. For example, a disabled person who lived in unsuitable housing; was dependent on public transport; had no informal support from family, friends or neighbours and who had little in the way of savings, may not have an impairment as severe as other disabled people, but would have significantly higher costs as a result of living with their condition.
- We want the Government to use a multi-dimensional assessment that accounts for social and environmental drivers of disability costs. We are working with other disability charities to design an alternative to the current draft assessment. Without an appropriate assessment the changes will hit disabled people disproportionately hard, making it even tougher for them to live independent lives and contribute to their community.
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