The Resolution Foundation has issued a stark warning over the government’s planned £6bn cuts to Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) disability benefits.
DWP cuts: dire consequences if Labour proceeds
The think tank made it clear that the Labour Party must move beyond short-term cuts and focus on making the disability benefits system fit for purpose.
It also laid out how restricting the eligibility criteria for certain benefits would have dire consequences for people who rely on them to survive.
Londoner Nikki Easom, 46, is a single mother to her teenage son. She gets Personal Independence Payment (PIP) for PTSD, anxiety, and depression.
She said:
The cost of living, especially in London, where I live, is ridiculously high. If benefits were cut I wouldn’t be able to afford to live. I can only just get by now.
Due to the high cost of healthy food and utilities, she finds it “extremely difficult” to pay for everything.
Currently, her DWP disability benefits help pay for things that help her mental wellbeing, including the gym and a car for when she is too anxious to use public transport.
Easom said:
These may seem like luxuries but they are essential for my well being.
Secretary of state for work and pensions Liz Kendall is due to announce the disability benefits Green Paper before the Spring Statement.
Change, not cuts
Forecasts by the Office for Budget Responsibility project £2bn of the government’s DWP welfare cuts could come from health-related benefits by 2029-2030.
The Resolution Foundation research found that tightening the eligibility criteria for health-related benefits would hit low income households the hardest. In total, 460,000 people on disability benefits would lose support.
Instead, it suggested that the government should:
pursue long-term, transformational change rather than quick cuts
However, as the Canary previously reported, Labour is planning to make DWP cuts instead. For example, £5 billion is expected to be cut by tightening eligibility for DWP PIP, which is designed to support those with additional costs due to disability.
In addition, PIP payments will be frozen next year, meaning they will not increase with inflation, affecting approximately four million chronically ill and disabled people.
Further alterations include increases to the basic rate of Universal Credit for those actively seeking employment or in work, while reducing support for individuals judged unfit for work. This, along with the changes to PIP, are perhaps the most vindictive of Labour’s plans: intentionally targeting the most chronically ill and disabled people.
DWP: devastating
Paula Peters, disability rights activist with Disabled People Against Cuts, said that the proposed DWP disability benefit reforms will be “disastrous” for disabled people.
She said:
millions rely on PIP to pay rent and general bills. Without this financial support it will mean deep poverty and homelessness.
The Resolution Foundation’s own analysis means that just 3% of disabled people will be in work from the proposed changes.
Peters said the proposals are purely about cutting DWP support and the results will have “devastating consequences”.
Feature image via the Canary
