For Immediate Release
Disability Wales issues a fresh warning as the UK Government’s Universal Credit Bill continues through Parliament, despite chaotic scenes that forced Ministers into a partial retreat on their most extreme proposals.
Under huge pressure from disabled people and campaigners across the UK, the Government abandoned its plans to slash Personal Independence Payment (PIP). However, it is still pressing ahead with deep cuts to the health-related top-up in Universal Credit (LCWRA), risking plunging hundreds of thousands of disabled people on the lowest incomes into even greater poverty.
“This was never about support — it’s always been about taking from those with the least” – Disability Wales Survey Respondent
Earlier this year, the UK Government’s Pathways to Work Green Paper set out stark proposals to overhaul disability benefits. It claimed to help more disabled people into work, but beneath the rhetoric lay plans to: cut PIP, which covers the extra costs of living with an impairment or health condition; slash the LCWRA element of Universal Credit, which supports those unable to work because of serious health conditions; and tighten assessments so that thousands more would lose eligibility altogether.
For disabled people in Wales already experiencing some of the highest poverty rates in the UK, facing long NHS waits, inaccessible workplaces, daily discrimination and spiralling costs of living, these plans were nothing short of an assault. Disability Wales surveys and focus groups uncovered overwhelming fear and distress among disabled people across Wales, even before the Bill reached Parliament.
One respondent from Ceredigion told us: “I don’t have enough money, even now, to meet all my most basic needs. ANY cuts would be disastrous. My PIP pays for all the help I can afford. If that’s gone, I will lose everything.”
Another from Newport said: “If my benefits go, I don’t see how I survive.”
The UC Bill still presses ahead with plans to cut the LCWRA top-up in Universal Credit, risking devastating losses for around 700,000 disabled people, pushing many deeper into hardship.
Meanwhile, the Bill does nothing to address the true barriers that keep disabled people out of work. Some of these barriers include employer discrimination, a lack of flexible and accessible jobs, and delays and planned cuts to the Access to Work scheme which supports disabled people to find and stay in employment.
Rhian Davies, Chief Executive of Disability Wales, said:
“Let’s be absolutely clear: this was never about supporting disabled people into work. It has always been about clawing money back from those who already pay the highest price just to exist in a world that isn’t built for them.
The Bill remains a shameful attempt to balance budgets on the backs of disabled people. Tinkering around the edges or dropping the worst clauses on PIP is not enough, it needs to be scrapped in its entirety.”
Disability Wales’ call to action
Disability Wales is demanding that the UK Government withdraw the UC Bill and start again, this time genuinely co-producing reforms with disabled people and Disabled People’s Organisations. Until that happens, we will continue to fight this Bill at every stage in Parliament. We also urge disabled people and allies across Wales to keep contacting their MPs, demanding they vote against these cruel and counterproductive plans.
Notes to Editors
Disability Wales is the national association of Disabled People’s Organisations, working to advance the rights, equality and independent living of all disabled people in Wales.
For interviews, case studies or more information, please contact:
Natalie.jarvis@disabilitywales.org
Read our consultation response and our report Barely Surviving (2023) on the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on disabled people in Wales at: www.disabilitywales.org
