Since 2010, successive Tory governments’ policies have resulted in unimaginable suffering for millions of disabled people from the inhumane conditionality and sanctions regime to the abolishing of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and replacing it with Personal Independent Payment (PIP).
The cruelness and callousness of their policymaking can be seen with the UK being the first country to be investigated by the UN Committee on the Rights of Disabled People (UNCRPD) in 2016. They found that the threshold for “grave or systematic violations” of disabled people’s rights had been breached.
Unsurprisingly it took eight years before the UK government would finally appear at the UNCRPD in Geneva, and last week they published a follow up report which found that no significant progress had been made by the UK concerning the situation of disabled people addressed in the 2016 investigation as well as there being signs of regression in the standards and principles of the Convention.
In both reports, the Committee cited the detrimental impact that social security cuts have had on disabled people.
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This can be seen with the introduction of PIP in 2013 with the Tories sole intention to cut the expenditure of disability social security benefits, ultimately reducing the number of disabled people entitled to receiving financial support.
The reality for those claiming PIP has been stark as the assessment framework has been proven to be deeply flawed and badly broken.
Since it was introduced in 2013, 76% of PIP appeals have ended with the applicant getting the right outcome, either by the DWP conceding before a hearing, or by an independent Tribunal overturning DWP’s initial decision.
Following written questions I tabled at the start of the year, the government revealed that more than 50,000 ill or disabled people had their appeal upheld at tribunal without the need for new evidence.
When I raised this with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions at Departmental questions, I was shocked at his response claiming that it was only “a relatively small proportion of the total amount of applications.”
Despite overwhelming evidence showing that the PIP assessment system isn’t working, the government announced at the 2023 Spring Budget its plans to scrap the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) and replace it with the PIP assessment.
There are many problems with this approach considering WCA is for an income replacement benefit whereas PIP is a non-means-tested benefit intended to cover the extra costs of disability.
Under the current failing PIP assessment system, it will lead to more people losing out on crucial financial support.
To make matters worse, the Prime Minister recently waged a full-on assault on disabled people announcing a review of PIP including whether more medical evidence is required before a claim is approved, and if payments in some circumstances should be one-off rather than ongoing.
His plans have been criticised by disabled people, disabled people’s organisations and charities for scapegoating disabled people and not focusing on tackling problems such as NHS waiting lists, employment barriers, and crumbling public services which prevent disabled people who want to work from accessing employment.
Rather than further deepening the hostile environment against disabled people, the government should have focused on closing the ever-growing link between poverty and disability, and fixing the system which they’ve broken.
Under the Tories, the social security system is no longer a safety net to support each and every citizen in need, as envisaged by the Beveridge report of 1942. We need to change that, and reform and rebuild it into one that respects the values and principles of Beveridge so it is there for us all in our time of need.
That can only be done by the government committing to working with disabled people to co-produce a more compassionate and just system.
Politics.co.uk is the UK’s leading digital-only political website, providing comprehensive coverage of UK politics. Subscribe to our daily newsletter here.
The post Marsha de Cordova: ‘The government is creating a hostile environment for disabled people’ appeared first on Politics.co.uk.
The cruelness and callousness of their policymaking can be seen with the UK being the first country to be investigated by the UN Committee on the Rights of Disabled People (UNCRPD) in 2016. They found that the threshold for “grave or systematic violations” of disabled people’s rights had been breached.
Unsurprisingly it took eight years before the UK government would finally appear at the UNCRPD in Geneva, and last week they published a follow up report which found that no significant progress had been made by the UK concerning the situation of disabled people addressed in the 2016 investigation as well as there being signs of regression in the standards and principles of the Convention.
In both reports, the Committee cited the detrimental impact that social security cuts have had on disabled people.
***Politics.co.uk is the UK’s leading digital-only political website, providing comprehensive coverage of UK politics. Subscribe to our daily newsletter here.***
This can be seen with the introduction of PIP in 2013 with the Tories sole intention to cut the expenditure of disability social security benefits, ultimately reducing the number of disabled people entitled to receiving financial support.
The reality for those claiming PIP has been stark as the assessment framework has been proven to be deeply flawed and badly broken.
Since it was introduced in 2013, 76% of PIP appeals have ended with the applicant getting the right outcome, either by the DWP conceding before a hearing, or by an independent Tribunal overturning DWP’s initial decision.
Following written questions I tabled at the start of the year, the government revealed that more than 50,000 ill or disabled people had their appeal upheld at tribunal without the need for new evidence.
When I raised this with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions at Departmental questions, I was shocked at his response claiming that it was only “a relatively small proportion of the total amount of applications.”
Despite overwhelming evidence showing that the PIP assessment system isn’t working, the government announced at the 2023 Spring Budget its plans to scrap the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) and replace it with the PIP assessment.
There are many problems with this approach considering WCA is for an income replacement benefit whereas PIP is a non-means-tested benefit intended to cover the extra costs of disability.
Under the current failing PIP assessment system, it will lead to more people losing out on crucial financial support.
To make matters worse, the Prime Minister recently waged a full-on assault on disabled people announcing a review of PIP including whether more medical evidence is required before a claim is approved, and if payments in some circumstances should be one-off rather than ongoing.
His plans have been criticised by disabled people, disabled people’s organisations and charities for scapegoating disabled people and not focusing on tackling problems such as NHS waiting lists, employment barriers, and crumbling public services which prevent disabled people who want to work from accessing employment.
Rather than further deepening the hostile environment against disabled people, the government should have focused on closing the ever-growing link between poverty and disability, and fixing the system which they’ve broken.
Under the Tories, the social security system is no longer a safety net to support each and every citizen in need, as envisaged by the Beveridge report of 1942. We need to change that, and reform and rebuild it into one that respects the values and principles of Beveridge so it is there for us all in our time of need.
That can only be done by the government committing to working with disabled people to co-produce a more compassionate and just system.
Politics.co.uk is the UK’s leading digital-only political website, providing comprehensive coverage of UK politics. Subscribe to our daily newsletter here.
The post Marsha de Cordova: ‘The government is creating a hostile environment for disabled people’ appeared first on Politics.co.uk.