DWP warned calls to cut health benefits 'a nightmare for disabled people'
The concerns come after health-related benefits came under renewed scrutiny by a House of Lords committee.
Cutting disability benefits by focusing on sanctions will only make disabled people’s lives harder, charities and campaigners have warned.
The government is too focused on cutting support rather than getting disabled people into supportive jobs, leaving them without the support they need to live and pushing them into poverty, disability equality charity Scope has told Yahoo News.
The concerns come after health-related benefits came under renewed scrutiny on Monday when the work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall was told the benefits bill is "financially unstable" by a House of Lords committee and that “urgent action is needed to address the rising social and financial cost” of the welfare state.
The warning from the economic affairs committee stated that “tackling” the issue “must be a top priority for the government”.
"People have incentives to claim health-related benefits; and, once in receipt of them, have neither the incentive nor support to find and accept a job," the committee said.
Another charity told Yahoo News that any such plans would be a "nightmare".
'This seems like a nightmare'
Scope told Yahoo News it was "concerned" by the committee’s narrative that "enforcing harsher conditions or taking away vital financial support is the only way to reduce spend or increase employment".
"Our broken benefits system urgently needs fixing, and we know there are a million disabled people who want to work but are denied the opportunity," James Taylor, executive director of the charity said.
“But governments have continually come unstuck when they've started with a figure to cut, rather than on what works to support disabled people into jobs.
"We're concerned by the committee’s narrative that enforcing harsher conditions or taking away vital financial support is the only way to reduce spend or increase employment," he added.
Campaign group Disabled People Against Cuts said that conversations around slashing disability benefits is already taking its toll, with references to suicide increasing in appearance on the group's social media pages.
It has also warned that conversations around the bulging benefits bill fail to take into account the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and higher rates of homelessness.
"This seems like a nightmare," Disabled People Against Cuts told Yahoo News. "We have no idea how any of this could happen without a massive increase in public sector spending and more money to private companies carrying out assessments, which I'm sure would cost much more in the long run.
"All of this is to say that pointing the finger at sick and disabled people and pushing them even further into poverty is not only immoral – it would likely back-fire and cause even more ill health," they added.
What plans do the government have for disability benefits?
The government has said it is determined to "cut" the benefits bill, and reduce it quickly - for health-related benefits, the bill has reportedly risen 40% in real terms since 2013.
Among these plans is a pledge that every 18 to 21-year-old in England will get access to work, education or an apprenticeship under a new "youth guarantee".
It will also invest £125 million in eight areas across England and Wales - dubbed 'trailblazer regions'. Mayors in those regions will be handed the cash to work on ways of joining up NHS treatment for the long-term sick with local employment and skills programmes.
It has also pledged to cut NHS waiting lists to help more people back into work who have waited too long for routine appointments.
Where it concerns disability benefits specifically, the DWP has already committed to disability benefit reform, announcing that it will publish a consultation on overhauling benefits like PIP in the spring.
But there is lingering distrust between claimants and the government, exemplified through a High Court ruling just last week.
The DWP was urged to scrap disability benefit reforms after the High Court ruled a previous government consultation into the issue was 'unlawful'.
At the time, Conservative ministers presented reforms to disability benefits as supporting disabled people into work, when saving money was the “primary rationale” for the proposals, the judgment from the Royal Courts of Justice said on 16 January.
As a consequence, disabled people submitting evidence about the work capability assessment were not aware it could reduce their payments.
Disability rights campaigner Ellen Clifford, who brought the legal action against the government, argued that the process did not provide people with sufficient information or time to respond to the proposals.
The DWP has been approached for comment.
If you have been affected by anything written in this article, you can contact Samaritans day or night, 365 days a year. You can call them for free on 116 123, email them at jo@samaritans.org, or visit samaritans.org to find your nearest branch.