Welfare system "not fit for purpose"

CHANGES to the welfare system have left disabled adults four times worse off financially than non-disabled adults, a new report claims.
While many people who received welfare support experienced cuts of around £300, disabled people had, typically, lost around £1,200 a year.
Warrington South MP Faisal Rashid attended the launch of the report from the Disability Benefits Consortium which considered the impact of the changes on disabled people.
He described it as a “damning indictment of the state of the welfare system.”
The research was funded by the Three Guineas Trust and conducted by the University of East Anglia, the University of Glasgow and Landman Economics. It is the first comprehensive study looking specifically at the cumulative impact of welfare changes on disabled people.
The research also found that the more disabilities a claimant had, the more liable they were to lose out. To cite one example, an individual with six or more disabilities lost over £2,100 each year on average, while someone with one disability lost around £700 each year.
Households with one disabled adult and one disabled child lost the most, with average losses of over £4,300 per year.
Mr Rashid said: “The system is simply not fit for purpose.
“I am deeply concerned by the effect of government policies on disabled people. The UN has said that the government’s social security reforms have led to “grave and systematic violations” of disabled people’s rights.
“These failures mean that people with disabilities are not just losing money – they are losing access to transport, personal independence, and in some cases their jobs. This is totally unacceptable.
“We must transform our welfare system from one that is too often demonising disabled people to one that is supportive and empowering.”