The Hardest Hit is a new initiative of the Disabilty Benifits Consortium to challenge the cuts to disability benifits. The DBC is a national coalition of over 40 different charities and other organisations committed to working towards a fair benefits system including RNIB, Mind, Scope, Age UK, Livability and MenCap. The following information, taken from the Hardest Hit website (http://thehardesthit.wordpress.com), details some of the impacts of the spending cuts on disabled and ill people and their families...
Disabled and ill people and their families are being hit hard by cuts to the benefits and services they rely on.
Many are living in fear of huge cuts to essential benefits including Disability Living Allowance (cut by £2.17 billion) and Employment and Support Allowance (cut by £2 billion). The total cuts will mean an estimated £9 billion loss to families’ incomes over the next four years, on top of cuts to many local care and support services. This affects people and families across the UK living with conditions like cancer, dementia, arthritis, Parkinson’s and Multiple Sclerosis, sensory impairments, learning disabilities, mental health conditions and physical disabilities. Their everyday lives depend on support that is under threat. The Government’s plans to cut billions from support for disabled people and their families. Their proposals include:
The Hardest Hit campaign brings together disabled people and carers and organisations and groups who represent them and to send a message to Government - you are hitting disabled people and their families the hardest: stop these cuts.
Members
Disabled and ill people and their families are being hit hard by cuts to the benefits and services they rely on.
Many are living in fear of huge cuts to essential benefits including Disability Living Allowance (cut by £2.17 billion) and Employment and Support Allowance (cut by £2 billion). The total cuts will mean an estimated £9 billion loss to families’ incomes over the next four years, on top of cuts to many local care and support services. This affects people and families across the UK living with conditions like cancer, dementia, arthritis, Parkinson’s and Multiple Sclerosis, sensory impairments, learning disabilities, mental health conditions and physical disabilities. Their everyday lives depend on support that is under threat. The Government’s plans to cut billions from support for disabled people and their families. Their proposals include:
- Cutting 20% from the budget for Disability Living Allowance (DLA). Disability Alliance estimates that over 700,000 disabled people could see their benefits reduced or removed. DLA helps disabled people with the extra costs of disability and without it more disabled people would be pushed into poverty. The cuts could have a knock-on impact on Carer’s Allowance, leaving thousands of families even worse off.
- Taking mobility payments away from disabled people living in residential care and children going to residential schools. Cutting these payments would trap many in their own homes.
- Cutting off payments of contributory Employment and Support Allowance after a year to people struggling to get back into work due to disability or serious illness.
The Hardest Hit campaign brings together disabled people and carers and organisations and groups who represent them and to send a message to Government - you are hitting disabled people and their families the hardest: stop these cuts.
About the DBC
The Disability Benefits Consortium (DBC) is a national coalition of over 40 different charities and other organisations committed to working towards a fair benefits system. Using our combined knowledge, experience and direct contact with disabled individuals and carers, we seek to ensure government policy reflects and meets the needs of all disabled people.
Members
Action for Blind People, Action for M.E., Age UK, Arthritis Care, Breast Cancer Care, Carers UK, Child Poverty Action Group, Citizens Advice, Clic Sargent, Cystic Fibrosis Trust, Deafblind UK, Disability Alliance, Every Disabled Child Matters, Guide Dogs, Haemophilia Society, LASA, Leaning Disability Coalition, Leonard Cheshire Disability, Macmillan Cancer Support, Mencap, Meningitis Research Foundation, Mind, Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association, MS Society, Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, National AIDS Trust, National Autistic Society (NAS), National Deaf Children’s Society, Parkinson’s UK, Rethink, Royal Association for Disability Rights (RADAR), Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID), Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), RSI Action, Scope, Sense, Skill, Sue Ryder, TUC, United Response, Vitalise.
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