Disabled benefit scrapped

UP to 3,000 disabled people across Oldham could be stripped of benefits under a little-noticed Government shake-up, campaigners fear.

The scrapping of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) — replacing it with personal independence payments, while carrying out fresh assessments on claimants — will have a devastating impact, they warned.

Ministers have announced they plan to slash 20 per cent from the “caseload and expenditure” for DLA — but without explaining how that £2.4 billionn will be saved.

Now a parliamentary motion has raised fears that DLA will simply be removed from 20 per cent of claimants, which would mean around 2,896 people in Oldham losing out.

There are a total of 14,480 claimants in Oldham, who receive between £20 and £125 a week to help them look after themselves and pay for help.

The Disability Alliance, an organisation of around 250 self-help groups and charities, said: “Any cuts could have a devastating impact.

“If the new benefit reduces the amount of support people receive — and the number of people who can receive it — then there is a real risk that disabled people will lose out on the independence and opportunities non-disabled people take for granted.”

The motion, tabled by the Welsh Nationalists, called for the DLA changes to be taken out of the Welfare Bill, which is currently before parliament.

It warned that 620,000 people — 20 per cent of the 3.1 million DLA claimants — could be “denied support with no justification”, adding: “The Government is yet to make a convincing case for reform.”

But the Department for Work and Pensions pointed out that nearly a quarter of people had not had their claims reviewed for a decade — while two million received the benefit indefinitely.

Maria Miller, the Minister for Disabled People said: “Severely disabled people who need extra help and support will always get it. We’ve listened to what disabled people and disability organisations have told us and we will be working with them to make sure that the new personal independence payment does what it should.”

The DLA shake-up has received far less attention than tough new tests for incapacity benefit claimants, but has the potential to affect more people.