Protect Disabled people who cannot work from planned cuts to benefits

We want the Government to halt all planned benefit cuts for disabled people unable to work. Instead of reducing benefits, we want them to rise in line with inflation. We want support, not hardship and deprivation, for those who cannot work.

We feel that disabled people who cannot work should not have their benefits cut. Acquired Disabilities can end careers, and we feel that those who previously contributed to tax deserve support. We also believe that people born Disabled need steady support without cuts.

We feel the pandemic widened the gap between current financial support and the extra cost of living for Disabled people; these proposed cuts will worsen this. We think forcing people to work will strain the fragile NHS and that Disabled people should not be punished for being unable to work.

Our welfare system is broken, costing almost a third as much as it does to run the NHS in England while leaving people for years on benefits with no offer of support, no hope of a future in work and no opportunity to improve their standard of living. Working-age adults who are in work are three times less likely to be in poverty than those out of work. We need to act to end the inequality that sees disabled people and people with health conditions trapped out of jobs, despite many wanting to work, and ensure our welfare system is there for people who need it, now and long into the future.

As part of our Plan for Change we're introducing the most far-reaching reforms in a generation, with £1 billion a year being invested to give people the best possible chance with tailored support that can be adapted to meet their changing circumstances - including their changing health.

These are the changes we are making to the system – to support sick and disabled people – many of whom want to work – into jobs, while protecting those with the most severe conditions who can never work:

• Scrapping the controversial Work Capability Assessment to end the dysfunctional process which drives people into dependency – delivering on the Government’s commitment to reform or replace it.

• We will not take forward the previous government’s WCA changes.

• Our Green Paper outlines why we think removing the WCA and moving to using the PIP assessment as the single assessment for additional financial support, is the correct decision for the reformed system.