The UK Government has been accused of deliberately concealing the extent of opposition to reform of a key disability benefit.
The Responsible Reform report has been backed by major disability charities but was entirely researched, written and funded by disabled people, led by a prominent blogger.
Collaborating using websites such as Twitter and Facebook, the team analysed more than 500 responses to the consultation on the future of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) after requesting them under the Freedom of Information Act.
Living with a disability is expensive – for the disabled and the taxpayer
One of the Coalition government’s less well-covered reforms is that of the disability living allowance (DLA). The DLA is not an out-of-work benefit and it is not means tested: it’s payable to everyone with a disability, to help with the many extra financial costs that disabled people have to live with. Unfortunately, it’s also very expensive: since the early 1990s, the number of people claiming the allowance has tripled, to nearly 2.2 million. The Government believes too many people are claiming the benefit, so it is introducing stricter new tests, designed to save £1.4 billion by 2015.
Tuesday 29 November 2011
Mencap responds to news that thousands of disabled people will no longer lose the mobility component of disability living allowance
Mencap, Leonard Cheshire Disability and Sense have been leading campaigning on the issue of Disability Living Allowance mobility component.
