In a joint letter to the Chancellor Rachel Reeves, 16 organisations warned slashing benefits would have a ‘catastrophic impact on disabled people up and down the country’
Rachel Reeves has been urged by over a dozen charities to reverse billions of pounds in planned cuts to welfare.
In a joint letter to the Chancellor, 16 organisations warned slashing benefits will have a “catastrophic impact on disabled people up and down the country”. The charities including Scope, Mind, and Trussell, said: “Life costs more for disabled people. Huge numbers already live in poverty as a result of these extra costs. The impact of any cuts to disability benefits would be devastating.”
They also argued cutting disability benefits will not achieve the Government’s target of getting more people into work, and are pressing instead for better support for disabled people to help them find suitable jobs.
It comes as the government prepares to announce an overhaul of disability benefits – including Personal Independence Payments (PIP) – ahead of the Spring Statement. Among a raft of measures, ministers are looking to save around £5billion by making it harder to qualify for PIP, which gives people help with extra living and mobility costs.
The charities described PIP as a “lifeline” for disabled people, which enables some to work. They added: “Scope’s analysis of government figures shows that without PIP, a further 700,000 more disabled households could be pushed into poverty.”
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall is expected to prepare the ground for the cuts ahead of the Chancellor’s Spring Statement as Labour MPs grow increasingly anxious.
The Labour MP Rachael Maskell said she had received a “flurry of emails” from people who are “deeply concerned” about the prospect of changes to the system. And she claimed to have picked up “deep, deep concern” from colleagues as she called for a “compassionate system and not taking just draconian cuts”.
She told the BBC : “We recognise the economic circumstances that we’re in and the hand that we were given and of course it is right that the Chancellor has oversight over all those budgets but not at the expense of pushing disabled people into poverty.”
Environment Secretary Steve Reed said on Monday it was “quite right” that the Government looked at the benefits system ahead of potential cuts to welfare. He said: “It’s not serving anybody well, not the taxpayer and not the people who are on benefits.”