DWP failure to protect those in need of protection

It has been reported that “more than 10,000 disabled people have had their benefits slashed in just one month, after the government introduced a new, lower cap on the total benefits that any non-working household can receive.”[1]

The from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) will be announcing that last November a cap on benefits cap has been reduced, or cut, £26,000 to £20,000 (or £23,000 in Greater London) last November.

It would appear that the reduction on the cap is even lower for single adults with no children that being: £13,400, and £15,410.

As many of you will know the coalition Government, under David Cameron, attempted to reduce the cap thereby forcing some claimants into work. As someone who is fortunate enough to have a good disability pension through my employer, I certainly worry, a great deal, for the many who are being subjected to these financial restrictions.

Yes, there are some people who make claims which are false, but this number much lower than the Government makes out: “T(t)he Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) repeatedly made false claims about the numbers of people living on disability benefits, the official statistics watchdog has found.”[2]

It is the system for assessing disability claimants that must be reviewed, not the wholesale reduction of benefits which affect those most in need. Less than 50% of claimants actually see a medical practitioner. It is not their fault that the DWP has failed to do its job under the current, and most recent Government’s.

Baroness Tanni Grey Thompson, the cross-bench peer in the House of Lord’s has also spoken out against the cuts. She has said, “The government says it wants to see more disabled people in paid work and halve the disability employment gap, an aspiration I applaud. One way not to do it, however, is to cut people’s benefit. This is one of a number of proposals (which will make life more difficult for disabled people) in the new Welfare Reform and Work Bill.”[3]

So, a broken system is now the cause for a Government going after those in society who are ‘broken themselves’.

Please pray on this issue, and if you feel so inclined complain to your (new) member of parliament.

Cite this article as: Fr. Jeffrey A.Leach.CBV, "DWP failure to protect those in need of protection" in Disabling Barriers to Church Blog, 17 May 2017, http://disablingbarrierstochurch.blogspot.co.uk/

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[1] http://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/lower-benefit-cap-sees-income-slashed-for-more-than-10000-disabled-people/

[2] http://www.politics.co.uk/news/2014/05/16/iain-duncan-smith-used-false-statistics-to-justify-disabilit

[3] https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/2016/january/dr-uk-ambassador-baroness-tanni-grey-thompson-speaks-out-against-cut-esa