Green Paper consultation is a “sham”: DR UK submission to Work and Pensions Committee
Chair of the Committee Debbie Abrahams outlined that: “there are legitimate concerns regarding the proposed changes to our social security system which would lead to a cut in support for more than three million sick and Disabled people and their families, especially if these cuts happen before employment opportunities emerge.
“It is therefore vital that there is full examination of the evidence of the likely impacts this will have on poverty and employment, as well as the health of sick and Disabled people.”
DR UK has now provided a comprehensive written submission to the Committee that can be downloaded on the right-hand side of this news page.
We highlighted point including that the Government’s own consultation is entirely bogus in relation to changes to personal independence payment (PIP) and universal credit (UC) by failing to consult on almost everything that matters most to claimants.
The list of things that the Government are refusing to consult on, meaning there are no questions about them in the online consultation, includes:
- Scrapping the WCA
- Creating a single assessment for PIP and the UC health element
- Freezing the health element of UC until 2029/30
- Only awarding PIP daily living if you get at least one descriptor scoring 4 or more points
- Restarting WCA reassessments until the WCA is scrapped
Some of the effects of these reforms would include:
- Most Disabled claimants will be subject to all work conditionality enforced by a punitive benefit sanctions regime
- Freezing UC health meaning a £1,100 average reduction in overall annual UC awards for the 3.0 million individuals by 2029
- The freeze and reduction together amounting to a £1.5 billion cut to Universal Credit health spending by 2030.
- 800,000 losing the PIP daily living component - this amounts to a minimum of £4,200 per year.
We conclude that “barriers to Disabled people’s employment are systemic – beginning with no support in school leading to poorer outcomes, a higher rate of social exclusion and abuse, and a punitive social security system that sanctions and demonises Disabled people rather than supports them into work.
“We are hit hardest by the Cost of Living Crisis, and are substantially more likely to live in poverty – whether we are Disabled ourselves or live with somebody who is. Barriers to adequate housing, social care and healthcare also lead to us falling out of work and not being able to re-join the workforce.
“Benefits do not cause the disability employment gap.
“The Government needs to change course before creating a catastrophic situation for Disabled people in the UK.
Investing positively in tackling the barriers to work for Disabled people will lead to long-term savings and improved outcomes.
Cutting benefits will just push Disabled people further from work, and into even more dire poverty.”
Note: DR UK is giving oral evidence to the Committee from 9.30 on 7 May
DR UK resources:
- Join our campaign and take action now to fight back against benefit cuts - visit our Take Action page to get involved.
- Need help applying for PIP or appealing a decision? We have a range of newly updated factsheets that can help you out. Visit our PIP guide and appeals guide on our resources page.
- We also have detailed guides to the work capability assessment and universal credit.
See also our related news stories:
- DPO Forum England: Benefits Green Paper Explained
- Disabled People To Be Hit By Cuts Of Almost £2 Billion More Than Widely Reported
- DR UK launches take action against benefit cuts webpage