The coalition government confirmed plans to cut £2 billion from spending on support for disabled people, through the replacement of disability living allowance with a 'personal independence payment'.
Source: The Government's Response to the Consultation on the Personal Independence Payment Assessment Criteria and Regulations, Department for Work and Pensions
Links: Response to consultation | Hansard | Hardest Hit press release | RNIB press release | Turn2us press release | Community Care report
Date: 2012-Dec
The third independent review report was published on the operation of the work capability assessment. It said that the assessment continued to be portrayed in an extremely negative light, often fuelled by adverse media coverage, representative groups, and 'political points scoring'. But although there were reports of individual cases where people had been poorly treated by the process, the government could be 'reasonably pleased' with what it had achieved. A further period of radical reform to the process was not needed, but some areas for improvement remained.
Source: Malcolm Harrington, An Independent Review of the Work Capability Assessment – Year Three, Department for Work and Pensions
Links: Report | Government response | Hansard | DWP press release | Citizens Advice press release | Labour Party press release | Mind press release | Rethink press release | RNIB press release | Scope press release | TUC press release
Date: 2012-Nov
A report examined the links between visual impairment and poverty in Wales. There were estimated to be at least 100,000 people in Wales with a visual impairment, of whom about one-third lived in poverty.
Source: Michael Donnelly and Victoria Winckler, Out of Sight: Visual impairment and poverty in Wales, RNIB Cymru
Links: Report | RNIB press release | BBC report
Date: 2012-Nov
A campaign group report examined the operation of the work capability assessment. It set out the experiences of more than 70 claimants who had been wrongly assessed, humiliated, badly treated, and forced to go to tribunal to secure the benefits to which they were legally entitled.
Source: The People's Review of the Work Capability Assessment, We Are Spartacus
Links: Report | Ekklesia report | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Nov
A survey examined disabled people's experiences of the work capability assessment. Almost 70 per cent were not aware that they could ask for a recording of the assessment. 74 per cent said that it was difficult for them to travel to the assessment centre. Almost half (47.5 per cent) were not aware that they could ask for a home assessment. 64 per cent of those that said their doctors were told not to provide written support said this was because of pressure by the Department for Work and Pensions.
Source: What s Your Experience of the Atos/Work Capability Assessment (WCA)? Survey Responses, Disabled People against Cuts (with Black Triangle/Social Welfare Union)
Links: Report | DPAC press release
Date: 2012-Nov
Up to half a million (450,000) disabled people and their families – including children and disabled adults living on their own – would be worse off under universal credit if existing plans went ahead (according to an inquiry led by Tanni Grey-Thompson). Disabled people and their families warned that cuts to the child disability additions and to the severe disability premium were likely to result in them struggling to pay for basic essentials such as food and heating. Many disabled people who were already finding it difficult to make ends meet faced further hardship under the new benefit system, leading to potentially disastrous consequences.
Source: Holes in the Safety Net: The impact of universal credit on disabled people and their families, Citizens Advice/Children s Society/Disability Rights UK
Links: Report | Research report (1) | Research report (2) | Citizens Advice press release | Disability Rights UK press release | Green Party press release | Scope press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Full Fact blog post
Date: 2012-Oct
An audit report said that up to 20,000 medical assessments on benefit claimants by a private contractor (Atos) in 2011 had failed to meet basic standards.
Source: Contract Management of Medical Services, HC 627 (Session 2012–13), National Audit Office, TSO
Links: Report | Telegraph report
Date: 2012-Oct
A report by a coalition of over 90 disabled people's organizations and charities highlighted the way in which the coalition government's benefit cuts were hitting disabled people hardest. Around 85 per cent of disabled people said that losing their disability living allowance would drive them into isolation, and would leave them struggling to manage their condition. 95 per cent feared that losing the allowance would be detrimental to their health. 78 per cent said that their health had got worse as a result of the stress caused by their work capability assessment for employment and support allowance.
Source: Andrew Kaye, Hayley Jordan, and Mark Baker, The Tipping Point: The human and economic costs of cutting disabled people's support, Hardest Hit coalition
Links: Report | OPM press release | RNIB press release | BBC report
Date: 2012-Oct
A report raised concerns about the impact that reforms to disability living allowance (DLA) would have on the ability of young disabled people aged 16-25 to establish independent living. It warned that not enough consultation had been done with disabled young people to ensure that personal independence payments (PIP), which would replace DLA from October 2013, met their needs. It called on the government to work more closely with disabled young people and to monitor the impact PIP had on them when it was introduced.
Source: Disabled Young People and Personal Independence Payments, Every Disabled Child Matters/Royal National Institute of Blind People
Links: Report | EDCM press release
Date: 2012-Oct
An article examined the influence of being disabled on poverty dynamics in European countries. The impact of disability on the likelihood of being poor was around 3 times greater in the long term than in the short term.
Source: Carmen Delia Davila Quintana and Miguel Malo, 'Poverty dynamics and disability: an empirical exercise using the European community household panel', Journal of Socio-Economics, Volume 41 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Sep
An article said that there was no evidence of higher levels of income deprivation among older recipients of disability living allowance compared with those receiving attendance allowance.
Source: Ruth Hancock, Marcello Morciano, and Stephen Pudney, 'Attendance allowance and disability living allowance claimants in the older population: is there a difference in their economic circumstances?', Journal of Poverty and Social Justice, Volume 20 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Aug
The coalition government began consultation on the impact that closing the Independent Living Fund in 2015 would have on users, local authorities, and the wider care and support systems for disabled people. It said that it planned to transfer the ILF budget to local councils in England and to the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
Source: The Future of the Independent Living Fund, Cm 8366, Department for Work and Pensions, TSO
Links: Consultation document | Hansard | DPAC press release | Community Care report
Date: 2012-Jul
An article examined the experience of people with myalgic encephalomyelitis ('ME') in claiming sickness-related benefits. It focused on the work and stress involved in making a claim; the felt stigma of being a claimant; and the strong desire to return to paid employment. It also highlighted a lack of documentation relating to the experience of making claims for, and of living as, a claimant of these benefits: it argued for the importance of research in this area, especially given that tightened criteria were generating even greater anxiety and risk of impoverishment.
Source: Patricia de Wolfe, 'Reaping the benefits of sickness? Long-term illness and the experience of welfare claims', Disability & Society, Volume 27 Number 5
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jul
A report said that tens of thousands of disabled adults and children would be much worse off as a result of the new universal credit due to come into force from 2013. It voiced concern that the scale of benefit cuts had not been properly understood because the changes had been viewed in isolation. Although some disabled people would gain from the changes, many others would get very much less help.
Source: Sue Royston and Sam Royston, Disability and Universal Credit, Citizens Advice/Children s Society/Disability Rights UK
Links: Report | Citizens Advice press release | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Jul
A report examined the economic effect of the coalition government's proposals for a 'personal independence payment' to replace disability living allowance – specifically due to fewer disabled people being eligible for the Motability scheme. If they lost their car, many disabled people might have to stop working, start to claim out-of-work benefits, and cease paying income tax and national insurance. The total economic cost was estimated at £342 million annually.
Source: Rob Parsons, Jane Young, B Morris, and Sam Barnett-Cormack, Reversing from Recovery: The hidden economic costs of welfare reform, We Are Spartacus
Date: 2012-Jun
A think-tank report examined the impact on disabled people of the coalition government's programme for reforming the welfare system. Budget cuts had already had a significant effect: but the Welfare Reform Act 2012 contained a number of measures that would further reduce the income of disabled people and their families over the next two years. The report highlighted the human cost of this loss in income: from increasing isolation and mental health problems to a greater burden on informal carers. The government needed to change impact assessments so that they did not just consider the aggregate impact of one cut, but the cumulative impact of several cuts on individual households. Until the government was able to understand the household-level impact of multiple changes to benefits and services, the human cost of the austerity measures would remain overlooked.
Source: Claudia Wood, Destination Unknown: Summer 2012, Demos
Links: Report | Summary | Scope press release | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Jun
A paper used data from the 2009 European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) to show that improving the socio-economic situation of disabled people could be crucial for attaining the Europe 2020 targets. However, future policy designs at the national level would need to take into account the actual definition of disability that was employed, the heterogeneity of circumstances to be found within such a definition, and the gap between the situation of the disabled and non-disabled populations.
Source: Alvaro Choi and Jorge Calero, The Contribution of the Disabled to the Attainment of the Europe 2020 Strategy Headline Targets, Working Paper 2012/16, Barcelona Institute of Economics
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Jun
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on its proposals for a new 'personal independence payment' to replace the disability living allowance from April 2013. It said that it recognized that further work was required on the way in which the new benefit would be delivered and administered.
Source: Government Support Towards the Additional Living Costs of Working-Age Disabled People: Government Response to the Committee's Seventh Report of Session 2010-12, First Special Report (Session 2012-13), HC 105, House of Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee, TSO
Links: Response
Notes: MPs report (February 2012)
Date: 2012-May
The coalition government published an assessment of the impact of replacing disability living allowance with a new 'personal independence payment' from April 2013 onwards. It said that it expected to cut benefit spending by £2,240 million, by 'focusing support on disabled people with greatest needs'. By 2015-16, the caseload for personal independence payment was estimated at around 1.7 million – compared with a previous forecast for disability living allowance of around 2.2 million.
Source: Disability Living Allowance Reform: Impact Assessment, Department for Work and Pensions
Links: Impact assessment | Equality impact assessment | BBC report | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2012-May
The Court of Appeal ruled that the size criteria in the housing benefit regulations discriminated against disabled people, because they did not allow for an additional room to be paid for where a disabled person had a carer, or where two children could not share a room because of disability.
Source: Burnip v Birmingham City Council and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions/Trengrove v Walsall Metropolitan Council and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions/Gorry v Wiltshire Council and Secretary of State for work and Pensions, Court of Appeal 15 May 2012
Links: Judgement | CPAG press release | EHRC press release | Inside Housing report
Date: 2012-May
An article examined the influence of being disabled on poverty dynamics in Europe. It presented results adjusting the modified OECD equivalence scale by the number of adults with severe disabilities in the household, and calculated poverty rates with this disability-adjusted scale. In addition it addressed the problem of incidental parameters in econometric models for the probability of being poor, and separated the effects of being disabled on poverty that were short- and long-term. The long-term ('persistence') effect was three times the short-term ('true state dependence') effect, which had significant social policy implications.
Source: Carmen Delia Davila Quintana and Miguel Malo, 'Poverty dynamics and disability: an empirical exercise using the European Community Household Panel', Journal of Socio-Economics, Volume 41 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-May
Researchers examined how the application process for the new personal independence payment (PIP) could be designed to meet the needs of both existing disability living allowance (DLA) claimants and potential PIP claimants.
Source: Lorna Adams, Katie Oldfield, Angus Tindle, Camilla Huckle, Charlie Taylor, John Newton, and Becky Duncan, Personal Independence Payment User-Centred Design: Strand 1 report, Research Report 794, Department for Work and Pensions
Notes: The new personal independence payment will replace disability living allowance from 2013 for people aged 16-64.
Date: 2012-May
A paper estimated the implicit disability costs faced by older people, using data on over 8,000 individuals from the Family Resources Survey. Disability costs were strongly related to the severity of disability and to income, and – at an average level of almost £100 per week among over-65s with significant disability – they typically far exceeded the value of any state disability benefits received.
Source: Marcello Morciano, Ruth Hancock, and Stephen Pudney, Disability Costs and Equivalence Scales in the Older Population, Working Paper 2012-09, Institute for Social and Economic Research (University of Essex)
Links: Working paper | Abstract
Date: 2012-Apr
A report by a committee of MPs said that the government should not introduce personal independence payment (PIP) assessments nationally until it had satisfied itself, in the planned initial roll-out of the new assessment in a limited geographical area, that the assessment was 'empathetic and accurate'.
Source: Government Support Towards the Additional Living Costs of Working-Age Disabled People, Seventh Report (Session 2010-12), HC 1493, House of Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | Additional written evidence | BBC report | Public Finance report
Notes: The Welfare Reform Bill included measures to introduce a new personal independence (PIP) benefit in 2013: the PIP would replace disability living allowance (DLA) for working-age claimants, to help meet the additional living costs of disabled people. A new eligibility assessment process would also be brought in.
Date: 2012-Feb
A report examined the impact in Scotland of reassessing incapacity benefit claimants for the new employment and support allowance. 115,000 claimants were expected to lose entitlement to sickness benefits over the period 2011-2014.
Source: Keith Dryburgh, From Pillar to Post: The impact of the IB/ESA migration on Scotland s people, communities, and services, Citizens Advice Scotland
Links: Report | CAS press release
Date: 2012-Feb
A study found that leaving work due to illness or injury could be as damaging as becoming unemployed, leading to a spiral of additional financial problems and having a wider impact on the household. More than 1 in 4 (28 per cent) of ill or injured people fell into poverty, and one third were living in poverty within a year of leaving work.
Source: Steve Pudney, Alexandra Skew, and Mark Taylor, The Economic Impacts of Leaving Employment for Health-Related Reasons, Institute for Social and Economic Research (University of Essex)
Links: Report | ISER press release
Date: 2012-Jan
A report by disabled campaigners criticized the coalition government's proposed 'reforms' of disability living allowance. It said that the government had downplayed the level of opposition to the reforms expressed by charities and other organizations in a consultation exercise.
Source: Sarah Campbell, Sue Marsh, Kaliya Franklin, Declan Gaffney, Mason Dixon, Leigh James, Sam Barnett-Cormack, Rhydian Fon-James, Dawn Willis, et al., Responsible Reform: A report on the proposed changes to disability living allowance
Links: Report | Mind press release | press release
Date: 2012-Jan
The government began consultation on the assessment criteria for the proposed new personal independence payment for disabled people. Around half a million fewer people would be entitled to the payment by 2015-16 compared with the existing arrangements for disability living allowance.
Source: Personal Independence Payment: Assessment Thresholds and Consultation, Department for Work and Pensions
Links: Consultation document | Mencap press release | Community Care report
Date: 2012-Jan
A report examined the accuracy of work capability assessment reports in relation to claims for employment and support allowance. The level of accuracy in reports was found to be 'worryingly low'.
Source: Vicky Pearlman, Sue Royston, and Christie Silk, Right First Time? An indicative study of the accuracy of ESA work capability assessment reports, Citizens Advice
Date: 2012-Jan