Emma Jackson on the need for reform beyond the government’s proposed cuts to the benefits system

The prime minster is right that "the people who really need a safety net are not always getting the dignity they deserve".  

Our social security system is broken. Radical reform is required if we are to stop the harm that people are experiencing at an industrial scale. Reform plus investment. This is what we need the spring statement to deliver: not cuts. 

The chancellor has earmarked several billion pounds in draft spending cuts to welfare ahead of the spring statement. The UK Government is expected to announce restrictions on eligibility for Personal Independent Payment (PIP) alongside cuts to incapacity benefits for people unable to work and receiving Universal Credit. 

While we must wait on the detail of these proposals, it is important for us to understand the potential consequences in Scotland. Yes, PIP is now within the remit of the Scottish Government and Social Security Scotland, known as Adult Disability Payment (ADP). However significant changes to PIP will impact ADP, in particular the budget for the payment. The idea that we would reduce the incomes of those experiencing some of the most severe poverty in our society in unconscionable.  

Evidence from across the Citizens Advice Network in Scotland has long sounded the alarm that disabled people are facing disproportionate and unacceptable levels of harm. Almost two thirds (67%) of people seeking advice from a local CAB have a disability or long-term health condition. Disabled people need advice for multiple issues; food insecurity, energy debt, social security, housing. Cases are complex, yet one issue rises to the top: people do not have enough income to live on.   

More than two thirds (68%) of people who sought energy advice had a health condition or disability. Our advisers report time and time again of harrowing instances of meals being missed, essential medical devices not being charged and people sitting in cold homes, with devastating consequences on physical and mental wellbeing. This is the backdrop against which there are proposals to provide people with less to live on.  

We must remember that social security is an investment in all of us, that should act as both a safety net and springboard; providing support during the challenges of life that all of us can all experience and enabling people to realise their potential. Yes, we must invest in the right places and have robust checks and balances in place, but this must be anchored in dignity, equity and respect. In a just and compassionate society, our social security system must be collaborative not cruel.  

The UK Government’s ambition to support more disabled people into work is right. Making cuts to disability benefits will not achieve this or fix the system that is so clearly broken. We need a system that incorporates a proactive role for employers and identifies and breaks down barriers, while addressing individual need.  

We need to look at our social security system as a whole and urge the UK Government to work at scale and pace to deliver the review of Universal Credit. Without urgent action to the long-documented problems, they will continue to deliver fatal blows and condemn people to destitution and debt. Social security must invest in all of us.  

Emma Jackson is head of social justice at Citizens Advice Scotland.

This column was first published in the Herald www.theherald.co.uk