Yesterday, MPs voted to postpone a £30 weekly cut to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Universal Credit (UC).
DR UK Deputy CEO Sue Bott said:
“We are heartened by the debate in the House yesterday in which MPs from all sides, using their personal experiences and the experiences of their constituents, expressed real concern about the impact that the cut of £30 a week to ESA WRAG will have, particularly given that government plans to improve employment support set out in the Green Paper are at such an early stage.
Back in May, when the then work and Pensions Minister Stephen Crabbe announced that there would no longer be the promised White Paper on employment and support reform he said ‘There is a need to take a step back’.
To introduce such a cut now when the Green Paper has only just been published is unfair and will make it much harder for disabled people to get into work.
We urge the Government to ‘take a step back’ and provide space for genuine consultation on how the disability employment gap can be halved.”