The Tipping Point - new Hardest Hit report

A new report, The Tipping Point, from the Hardest Hit coalition brings together over 90 disabled people’s organisations and charities that are members of the UK Disabled People’s Council and the Disability Benefits Consortium. It features an analysis of key events and trends that have affected disabled people over the past 12 months, with a series of quotes from disabled people of their views and experience of the welfare and social care systems, as well as their concerns for the future.

This report reveals disabled people now find themselves at a “tipping point”. Many disabled people feel that they are living on the edge, and that the loss of even a small amount of income could tip their already complex lives into greater dependence and insecurity. It notes that disabled people have experienced a massive drop in income of £500million since the Emergency Budget of 20104. Recent reports show that cuts range from £200 to £2,065 for typical disabled households just in the past year. The latest estimates suggest disabled people will experience £9bn cuts over the lifetime of this Parliament; half the total cuts being taken from the welfare budget.

More than three quarters (78 per cent) of disabled people said their health had got worse as a result of the stress caused by their Work Capability Assessment (WCA) for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). Two thirds (65 per cent) of disabled people felt that ESA assessors did not understand their condition. Nearly 9 in 10 (87 per cent) of welfare advisors said the frequency of reassessments for ESA is having a negative impact on disabled claimants’ health.

Half a million people are expected to lose out on vital support as the Government scraps Disability Living Allowance (DLA), to replace it with the new benefit, Personal Independence Payment (PIP). This is designed to save the Government over £2bn. 8 in 10 (84 per cent) of disabled people surveyed believe that losing their Disability Living Allowance would drive them into isolation and struggling to manage their condition. 9 in 10 (94 per cent) of disabled people fear that losing their Disability Living Allowance would be detrimental to their health.

Further, the research indicates that cutting the DLA/PIP budget won’t only have a profound impact on individual disabled people’s lives but will also result in significant longer-term financial costs to Government. 65 per cent of respondents in work stated that without DLA they would not be able to work. Three in ten disabled people stated that without DLA their carer would not be able to work. Three quarters of disabled people said that losing DLA would mean they would need more social care support from their local council.

The Hardest Hit coalition calls on the Government to:

* Learn from the mistakes of the WCA and ensure the assessment for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is as fair as possible by: ensuring that the assessment criteria take proper account of the full range of barriers faced by people with disabilities and health conditions; making the assessment and reassessment processes as simple, transparent and proportionate as possible; and ensuring that robust evaluation and monitoring processes are in place.
* Get the fundamentals of Universal Credit (UC) right, ensuring disabled people do not lose out in cash terms as a result of the transition to UC from 2013. Key areas the Government must urgently reconsider include the abolition of the severe disability premium, the loss of financial assistance for disabled people in work and the loss in income for some families with disabled children.
* Reform the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) to ensure that it is working consistently and fairly to accurately recognise all individuals with limited capability for work or work-related activity, particularly those with fluctuating conditions, mental health conditions and sensory impairments.
* Provide a lasting solution to the crisis in social care, which has endured years of chronic under-funding, by implementing the recommendations of the Dilnot Commission and urgently addressing the current funding gap.

“At my interview at my local Jobcentre my advisor told me that she had no jobs or courses for someone with my degree of disability. She then told me due to me being placed in the ESA work-related activity group I would lose my benefit (ESA) in 2013. Our joint income would not entitle us – yet my husband is my carer and is still having to work full time on a low wage.” Hardest Hit research, 2012