We highlight the following three issues, although there are many others that we intend raise in due course:
- Benefit adequacy
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
- Work Capability Assessment (WCA)
Benefit adequacy
A 2023 All Party Parliamentary Group of MPs on Poverty inquiry found that Disabled people are almost three times as likely to live in material deprivation in comparison to the rest of the population (34 % vs 13%).
Shockingly, the Trussell Trust reports that nearly 7 in 10 (69%) of those referred to its food banks are Disabled people.
The Work and Pensions Committee March 2024 report, Benefit levels in the UK, highlights that claimants are often not able to afford daily living costs and the extra costs associated with having a health condition or disability.
The Committee urged the development of a framework of principles to inform how benefit levels are set, and to outline objectives linked to living costs as well as work incentives.
It also cited the methodology used in the JRF and Trussell Trust’s ‘Essentials Guarantee’.
DR UK therefore asks the Secretary of State that she “urgently instigates an independent process to regularly determine an Essentials Guarantee level, based on the cost of household essentials (such as food, utilities and vital household goods), that would include an extra disability related costs addition.”
Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
Prior to the General Election, the previous Government launched a consultation on PIP reform.
Included in their Green Paper are proposals to replace PIP with vouchers or one-off grants rather than ongoing benefit payments.
Other proposals included both restricting PIP eligibility rules and PIP assessment criteria.
None of the proposals had ever been discussed with DPOs (Disabled People’s Organisations) or Disabled people.
DR UK says: “The goals of the proposed reforms were to reduce the number of claimants and diminish financial support - breaking with the principle of a cash benefit to meet the extra costs of disability.
“We would ask you to scrap the Green Paper and reject its proposals.
Work Capability Assessment (WCA)
Following a consultation of just 8 weeks in November 2023, the previous Government announced it intended to further restrict the work capability assessment (WCA) from 2025.
It also intended that it would first restrict eligibility for the limited capability for work (LCW) and limited capability for work-related activity (LCWRA) categories within Universal Credit (UC) and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).
The Office for Budget Responsibility estimates that these planned WCA changes would mean that by 2028/29, 424,000 people with serious mobility or mental health problems would be denied both extra Universal Credit worth over £400 a month and protection from sanctions.
DR UK says: “These reforms would not reduce economic inactivity. Instead, they would condemn seriously ill and Disabled people to a life of poverty and the threat of sanctions.
“… We also ask that plans set out in the Health and Disability White Paper in March 2023, to remove the WCA completely are rejected. We note your intention to reform the WCA and we would ask that any process involves Disabled people at its heart.
"We do want Disabled people who could gain employment to have the appropriate support. We believe that this support can best be delivered by Disabled people’s organisations. We oppose sanctions being used, as a way of driving employment, and there is no evidence that this strategy has ever been effective. “
We conclude our letter by saying: “We recognise that a radical redesign of the social security system cannot be implemented immediately.
“However, we would welcome an ongoing dialogue with you as to what needs to be done and how.
We would hope that you will institute regular roundtable meetings with ourselves and other members of the Disabled Peoples Forum England so Disabled peoples’ problems are highlighted, understood and resolved through a co-production process.”
DR UK’s full letter to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions can be downloaded at the bottom of this webpage.