The Disability Benefits Consortium has written an open letter to Therese Coffey, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, to call for emergency changes to the benefits system to ensure disabled people and people living with a long term health condition are protected from further physical and financial harm during the covid-19 crisis.
The DBC, which is made up of more than 100 organisations – a wide range of national regional groups representing those with a variety of disabilities – and using its combined knowledge, experience and direct contact with disabled individuals and carers, seeks to ensure Government policy reflects and meets the needs of all disabled people.
The letter from the DBC welcomes the recently announced measures designed to protect the incomes of large numbers of people whose livelihoods have been adversely impacted by the Covid-19 crisis.
However, it says that these support measures need to go further:
“People living with a disability and those with long-term health conditions tend to have lower real incomes and higher costs than the general population and we are calling on the Government to produce a more comprehensive package of support, to better protect these individuals and their families, at this difficult time.”
Ken Butler Welfare Rights and Policy Officer for Disability Rights UK, one of the groups in the DBC, added: “The Government has sensibly introduced interim measures that we warmly welcome. Such as the suspension of face-to-face assessments for all ESA and disability benefits and not requiring DLA and PIP claimants to complete and return renewal claim packs issued to them. However, even before the covid-19 crisis benefit cuts and austerity disabled people were hit the hardest. The emergency measures proposed by the DBC are urgently needed to ensure that disabled people are fully protected during this crisis.”
The Disability Benefit Consortium (DBC) has also responded to a Social Security Consortium research initiative into how the Department for Works and Pensions ( DWP )engages with disabled people in formulating policies and processes which affect them, saying the DWP must explore how disabled people can easily participate in changing how it works. View Response .
