Benefits cuts driven by need to meet fiscal rules rather than support for ill and disabled, NEF warns

The cuts to disability and incapacity benefits announced by the Work and Pensions Secretary today [Tuesday 18 March] are being driven by the Chancellor’s self-imposed fiscal rules rather than a focus on supporting ill and disabled people, the New Economic Foundation (NEF) has warned.

Responding to the publication of the Department for Work and Pension’s (DWP) Green Paper on reforming the benefits system, Tom Pollard, head of social policy at NEF, said:

“The cuts to benefits announced today have clearly been designed to meet a savings target imposed by the Chancellor’s arbitrary and self-imposed fiscal rules, rather than ensuring ill and disabled people get the support they need. Cutting the income of those who need support will not address the underlying factors leading to more people becoming unwell and disabled, it will only make them worse.

“The gap between the financial support provided to those with the universal credit (UC) health top-up and those without is primarily a problem with the inadequacy of the basic rate of UC. Increasing this basic rate is welcome, but doing it on the back of freezing or cutting support to those who are likely to be out of work for longer due to illness or disability will not help people to return to work.

“The government claims that the current system is ​‘trapping’ ill and disabled people and preventing them from receiving support, but this is simply not true. The DWP cannot place requirements on this group under the threat of sanctions, but it could be doing much more to foster genuine engagement with support on a voluntary basis. Imposing an ​‘expectation to engage’ would be misguided and risky – exposing ill and disabled people to conditionality that has been shown to be both damaging and ineffective.

“Last year, the government set out a positive vision for more holistic employment support, focused on engagement rather than compliance. Together with the ​‘right to try’ proposal, this could have been a transformative agenda. But it appears the DWP has been pushed by the Treasury and Number 10 to achieve short-term savings through crude cuts which will fundamentally undermine this agenda, push more people into poverty and create bigger problems further down the road.”ENDS

Contact

James Rush – james.rush@neweconomics.org

Notes

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