Leading disability organisations stage 11th hour call for Government to halt cuts to disability benefits ahead of Budget.
Open letter and protest arranged to oppose Government’s disability benefit cuts
Ahead of next week’s Budget, leading disability organisations have joined forces in an 11th hour call for the Government to reconsider planned cuts to the Work Related Activity Group (WRAG) of the disability benefit Employment Support Allowance (ESA), which will see new claimants lose out on £30-a-week, £1500 a year
The Government claims this cut will ‘incentivise’ disabled people to get in to work, despite a recent Work and Pensions Select Committee report highlighting that evidence towards this is ‘ambiguous at best’. Charities argue that instead of halving the disability employment gap, the cuts will directly undermine this aim pushing disabled people closer to or into poverty, with a survey of over 500 disabled people finding:
- Almost 7 in 10 (69%) say cuts to ESA will cause their health to suffer
- More than a quarter (28%) say they sometimes can’t afford to eat on the current amount they receive from ESA
- Almost half (45%) of respondents say that the cut would probably mean they would return to work later
- Just 1% said the cut would motivate them to get a job sooner
Rossanna Trudgian, Head of Campaigns at learning disability charity Mencap said:
“The Government’s refusal to rethink the cuts to the benefits of disabled people has caused deep unease amongst disabled people as well as MPs from all parties. Introducing a cut of £30 a week to disabled people, many of whom are already living in poverty, without providing any robust evidence that this will incentivise people in to work. It will simply make life harder for sick and disabled people and directly contradicts the Government’s commitment to halve the disability employment gap.
“Living with a disability often means a higher cost of living and being unemployed, leaving many relying heavily on the already restricted amount of money the Government provides. Disabled people are already struggling and risk being pushed further from work, their health suffering and being isolated from their communities. travel. We need the Government to recognise how damaging these cuts will be and stop them before their damaging effects are felt.”
Open letter
“Dear Prime Minister,
“We urge the Government to reconsider the £30-a-week cut to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Universal Credit facing sick and disabled people. The cut has caused deep concern among the sector and unease among MPs from all parties and we remain united as a sector in our opposition.
“The cut to new claimants in the Work-Related Activity Group of ESA and within Universal Credit (UC) from 1st April 2017 will affect many people found currently ‘unfit for work’ but will also impact many disabled people in work and on low wages due to the way UC works.
“Almost 70% of sick and disabled people surveyed said this cut would cause their health to suffer and just under half said they would probably not be able to return to work as quickly, therefore undermining the Government’s attempts to halve the disability employment gap - something we wholeheartedly support.
At a time when 1 in 3 households with a disabled member are living in poverty, £30 a week can be a huge loss in income. We therefore urge the Government to halt this cut immediately.”
Signed:
Action on Hearing Loss
AdviceUK
Arthritis Research UK
Carers UK
Deafblind UK
Disability Rights UK
Inclusion London
Leonard Cheshire Disability
Mind
National Autistic Society
Rethink
Reclaiming Our Futures Alliance of grassroots Deaf and Disabled people’s organisations
RNIB
Royal Mencap Society
SAMH
Scope
Sense
Sir Bert Massie CBE, DL
Spartacus Network
United Response