Not Only Pensioners Lose Heating Allowance - So Do 1.5 Million Disabled People

14th September 2024

The Big Issue has highlighted other changes not just heating allowance in an article.

Since the election of the Labour government in July there has been something of a change in tone when it comes to social security and disability. Speaking to the Observer last month, Liz Kendall vowed to end the blame culture targeted at people out of work and stop the ‘salami slicing' of the benefits bill that we saw under previous Conservative governments. You might think, given this rhetoric, that the new government will mark a clear break from previous governments' approaches to health and disability benefits.

But look closer, and there are more concerning signs. Speaking to parliament at the end of July, the chancellor warned that the autumn budget will involve ‘taking difficult decisions' on social security, and said she ‘will look closely at our welfare system, because if someone can work, they should work'.

The new government has also been worryingly silent about its plans for the work capability assessment (WCA). Its manifesto said that the WCA ‘needs to be reformed or replaced’, but Labour has so far failed to provide much detail about what this would mean in practice.

Of particular concern is its failure to rule out bringing forward dangerous proposals for the WCA introduced by the previous government. The planned changes to the work capability assessment criteria, which were on the cusp of being implemented before the election was called, would mean over 400,000 seriously ill and disabled people missing out on more than £400 per month of additional financial support, and having to survive indefinitely on the grossly inadequate basic rate of universal credit.

Read the full article HERE