Bill Scott argues the election of a Conservative majority government at Westminster will see disabled Scots lose out on essential benefits
So, what does last week’s almost unbelievable general election result mean for Scottish disabled people? Is the massively increased contingent of SNP MPs going to be able to change things? Or is the new Conservative Government going to press home it’s attack on disabled people’s benefits begun in the last Parliament? Unfortunately I think that any prospects of a change for the better are looking increasingly slim.
One of the first acts of the new government was to announce on the day after the election that there would be cuts to Access to Work both at a national and individual level. Access to Work provides support to disabled people that helps them access new jobs and to keep the jobs they are already in. Given that the money spent on Access to Work more than pays for itself (in increased Income Tax and National Insurance revenues from disabled workers) this seems a perverse policy move by a government that claims to want more disabled people to move into work.
Following almost immediately on that austerity cut was the announcement that the government would be prioritising the repeal of the Human Rights Act. Despite claims to the contrary this repeal will affect Scotland as well as the rest of the UK. That is bad news indeed for disabled people as several recent attacks on benefits (the Bedroom Tax, Independent Living Fund, Work Capability Assessments, etc.) have been challenged on the basis that disabled people’s human rights were breached. If the Human Rights Act is abolished that is likely to become extremely difficult if not an outright impossibility.
“Ah”, you say, “But aren’t disability and carers benefits being devolved to Scotland? Although all this might be bad news for disabled people in England and Wales, surely the Scottish Government will protect disabled people from the worst of the cuts to their benefits?"
Leaked documents also show that the DWP and Conservatives are considering means-testing entitlement to Carers Allowance and taxing DLA and PIP payments as part of their plans for a further £12 billion in benefit cuts
The answer to this is: “afraid not”.
The problem is that, as yet, there is no timetable for the transfer of Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and Carers Allowance to Scotland. The DWP have also indicated that this is unlikely to occur before 2018. By that time over half of the Scots disabled people currently entitled to the Higher Rate Mobility Component of DLA will have lost it because they'll have been transferred to PIP, which has much more stringent entitlement criteria.
Leaked documents also show that the DWP and Conservatives are considering means-testing entitlement to Carers Allowance and taxing DLA and PIP payments as part of their plans for a further £12 billion in benefit cuts. If these changes are implemented before the benefits are devolved to Scotland it will be difficult/impossible for the Scottish Government to reverse them. Why? Because the budget that Scotland eventually receives for paying these benefits will already have been massively reduced, restricting the scope for mitigation and innovation.
Can these changes be halted? That unfortunately is unlikely as the government has an absolute majority over all the other parties combined.
On the other hand, perhaps guerrilla action can at least delay some of them. If they can’t, the prospects for disabled people are dire indeed.
Bill Scott is director of policy at Inclusion Scotland, a consortium of organisations of disabled people and disabled individuals.
