Critics fear the shake-up of work assessments will force more disabled people to look for work and face sanctions if they don't meet strict rules
Thousands of Department for Work and Pensions benefit claimants have been warned of 'catastrophic' cuts amid new welfare reforms.
The latest DWP figures show there are around 2.5 million people on Universal Credit or ESA who are deemed to be unfit for work and get extra cash on top of their benefits. Spending on this additional health support for claimants who don't work is due to rise by 13 per cent in real terms – from £25.9 billion in 2023/24 to £29.2 billion in 2027/28 – and taking the caseload over 3.5 million people if nothing changes, it said.
Thousands of people are set to be affected by the new welfare reforms. But welfare organisations are concerned the changes to the categories in work assessments will do more harm and good, saying seriously ill and disabled people on low incomes need stability and support, not "more cuts and threats."
Sarah White, head of policy at national disability charity Sense, meanwhile warned the plans could "cause huge anxiety for disabled people up and down the country." She said: "We're seriously concerned that if the Government does overhaul its assessment process without putting any additional support in place, then disabled people are just going to be put under more pressure to find work, without having the support they need to do so.
Iain Porter, a senior policy advisor at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: "The effect of these changes? Probably to make it less likely that people will be assessed as having 'limited capability for work-related activity' . The work capability assessment is a high-stakes assessment for disabled people and people with health conditions who need our social security safety net to support them through what can be incredibly difficult times.
In the Commons, shadow work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall described the proposals as "tinkering at the edges of a failing system."
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