STRUGGLING Brits and those with a disability are set for a shakeup in how their benefits are assessed.
The government has outlined a new national disability strategy that promises to make it easier to find and apply for benefits such as Universal Credit and Personal Independent Payments (PIP).
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Government data suggests 14 million people in the UK have a disability.
That is equivalent to one-in-five people in the UK.
Many disabled people may find it harder to work and there is a 28 percentage point gap in the employment rate of working age disabled people compared with working age non-disabled people.
Disabled people can get support if they are unemployed with benefits such as Universal Credit or Employment Support Allowance (ESA).
You may also be eligible for Personal Independence Payments, which provide money to help with daily living and mobility issues if you have certain health conditions or disabilities.
The government published a national disability strategy this week that recognised how difficult it can be for claimants to access these benefits.
Getting these benefits often involves lengthy assessments and regular reviews which can be stressful for claimants.
Universal Credit and ESA claims are usually reviewed six months to two years after you first started getting the benefit using a work capability assessment (WCA), according to Citizens Advice.
The WCA determines if you are fit to work or if your benefit should be higher or lower.
PIP is paid for a set number of months or years depending on each case and is typically reviewed a year before the benefit is due to end.
The benefits you could be eligible for
DISABLED people can access a range of benefits if they are unemployed or need support with their condition.
Universal Credit: This was introduced in 2012 to replace several benefits and combine them into one payment.
It replaces:
- Child Tax Credit
- Housing Benefit
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- Working Tax Credit
New claimants automatically apply for Universal Credit.
If you were on other benefits before such as ESA you will only be moved gradually depending on where you live and when your payment is reviewed.
Anyone on ESA is due to move onto Universal Credit by 2024.
Personal Independence Payment: This is available to those who require extra help because of a health condition or disability.
It’s available to those aged 16 or over and below state pension age.
It is made up of two parts, one for your needs for daily living and one for your needs for mobility – the amount of money available depends on how your health condition affects you.
You need to have a health condition or disability which has caused you to have difficulties with daily living for at least three months, and you must expect this to continue for at least nine months.
Research by the department for work and pensions found that eight in 10 disabled people who had accessed benefits and pension services had experienced at least some difficulties.
The reported suggested the number of reviews could be reduced.
It said: “DWP is also exploring options to reduce the frequency of repeat WCAs and PIP assessments, to avoid assessments where a change of award is unlikely.”
The report said DWP will continue to explore ways to improve health assessments.
This includes continuing with telephone and video assessments that were introduced during the pandemic.
The strategy includes other pledges such as providing better access to suitable housing and making it easier for disabled people to use public transport.
Minister for Disabled People Justin Tomlinson said: “We are absolutely committed to putting disabled people at the heart of government policy making and service delivery.
“Their voices, insights and experiences are central to this strategy and our future approach. By engaging disabled people, their families, carers and organisations, collectively we will deliver real and lasting change.”
However, disability activists and charities were not so impressed.
Kamran Mallick, chief executive of charity Disability Rights UK, sad the 120-page document was “disappointingly thin” on actual changes that would be made.
He said: “There are scant plans and timescales on how to bring about vastly needed improvements to benefits, housing, social care, jobs, education, transport, and equitable access to wider society.”
Scope agreed that more detail was needed.
The charity’s chief executive Mark Hodgkinson, said: “Many of the short term commitments made are to be welcomed, but the strategy as a whole falls short of the transformational plan that many disabled people expected and deserve.
“Unless we get clear detail beyond the next 12 months, it is difficult to see how life will be significantly different for the next generation of disabled people.”
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