Bolton South East MP, Yasmin Qureshi, took part in a Westminster Hall debate which considered the Government’s health and disability green paper.

The health and disability green paper aims to explore how the welfare system can better meet the needs of disabled people and people with health conditions now and in the future, enabling people to live independently and move into work where possible.  This review comes in light of extensive cuts to welfare, in particular for disabled people.

Between 2010-2021, £37 billion less was being spent on working-age social security compared with 2010.  However, there have also been severe cuts to disabled benefits, notably personal independence payments (PIP) and employment and support allowance (ESA) – which together will have shrunk by nearly £5 billion, or by 10%, since the start of the decade.

Ms. Qureshi took the opportunity to represent her constituents and discuss her experience dealing with complex disability constituency casework.  She cited three concerning cases where constituents are repeatedly forced to undergo work capability assessments for conditions which are known to be debilitating.  The abolition of the lifetime benefits award has resulted in frequent work assessments for some of the most vulnerable in society.

Commenting on her speech, Yasmin Qureshi said:

“I highlighted the Government’s failings when it comes to supporting some of the most vulnerable in Britain.  The Government is repeatedly forcing disabled people into debilitating work assessments, when it is fully aware of the fact they are unable to work.”

“It has had 12 years now to provide a hand up to support disabled people, but instead, the introduction of Personal Independence Payment and the frequent work assessments are marginalising disabled people in a world where we need to support them.”

“Judging the Government on this criterion makes for grim reading if you are a Conservative, as they have failed in every sense to support those who need our help the most.”

** Ends **

Notes to Editors:

• The Government’s health and disability green paper: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/shaping-future-support-the-health-and-disability-green-paper
• Disability spending: https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/2018/september/disability-benefit-spending-reduced-%C2%A35-billion-over-last-decade
• Twitter clip: https://twitter.com/YasminQureshiMP/status/1488867832288976908?s=20&t=0_GnOMF79RhfwI1KNhseKg
• Facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/yasminqureshiuk/videos/295761965773008/

Full Speech

Many of us know that one of the key concerns with the government’s mistreatment of disabled people stems from the abolition of disability living allowance (DLA) and its replacement with personal independence payments (PIP).

And as has already been mentioned here today — this has meant that many of those who once were told that their support would be ‘for life’ are now forced to have regular re-assessments.

I have heard countless stories from constituents who have written to me or met with me at advice surgeries:

Recently I had a constituent contact me who suffers from Ankylosing Spondylitis.

This is an inflammatory disease that over time can cause some of the bones in the spine to fuse.

My constituent told me of his worries about being called back for re-assessments every few years despite the fact that his wife’s condition is chronic and will only get worse.

Another constituent:

A wife who’s husband received a lifetime DLA award about 18 years ago.

He was unable to walk and is completely dependent on others for all his needs.

Yet they too must go through a stressful and difficult re-assessment process for PIP.

Will the Minister today enlighten us as to why – when a person is incapacitated to the level that a ‘lifetime award’ was once thought appropriate (because it was recognised that they’re not going to get better) why then does this government now think that it’s reasonable for them to repeatedly endure reassessments?

I have another constituent who has cerebral palsy and before PIP was introduced, she had been receiving DLA since she was 16 years old.

This payment was a lifeline for her especially during times when it was her only source of income.

Again, Cerebral palsy does not go away – in fact it is likely she will decline.

Irreversible brain damage is irreversible.

Again, can the Minister explain to us today — why does her Government insist on re-assessments for lifelong conditions? When she knows it is a waste of money and energy, and it is cruel.

These reviews mean that people are subject to repeated interviews with people who are not medical experts. They often have no idea about the conditions and in many cases the stress of these reviews causes a flare up and worsens the condition.

These reviews are unnecessary, and they need to stop.

It should come as no surprise to the Minister (or anyone in this House) that there was recently a Parliamentary petition that reached 30,000 signatures calling on the government to scrap reassessments for those with life-long conditions.

But logic has no place in this Government’s benefit system.

Since 2013 we’ve seen a cultural shift against social security under this Tory government’s – one that is rooted in hysteria and myths.

But I ask the Minister today, how can it be prudent to use taxpayers’ money to check whether a disabled person’s neurology or genetic make-up has changed?

We have a system where blind people, paraplegics or those with Down’s syndrome are put through re-assessment and forced to provide information about their disability. Information that the government already has and cannot possibly have changed.

And we have seen that the system that assesses them has been proven to be a disaster – with lost applications and delays – it is not even fit for purpose.

In the government’s recent Green paper, there’s no mention of any of this.

So I urge the Minister to consider the following point:

“Lifetime awards” like those we had with DLA are a genuinely useful part of our welfare system.

They are a sensible response to the reality that some people’s disabilities will never get better.

They ensure that they only have to go through the assessment once.

There is something deeply undignified about having to prove repeatedly that you are still as disabled as you used to be. And having to explain to a stranger that you still deserve the support for your chronic condition.

And so, I urge the Minister to reconsider the policies that were once created on the back of narratives and myths that some disabled people were “scroungers” or ‘out to milk the system’ — and instead consider the ordeal and suffering they are putting their disabled citizens through.