Is the Government implying disabled people are cheating the benefit system?

Philip Connelly, policy manager at Disability Rights UK

Mike Penning, Minister of State for Disabled People

Yes

Disability campaigners have criticised the Government’s announcement that over a million disabled are actually fit to work, claiming it is causing the public to see people with disabilities as ‘workshy scroungers’.

Philip Connelly policy manager at Disability Rights UK said of the statistics used on the announcement by the Department for Work and Pensions:

“It was a five years total and it didn’t include a further breakdown to show that many people had stopped their claim because they had made a recovery, no longer needed the benefit and returned to work.

“It is a deceptive use of statistics, and this announcement plays into the narrative that disabled people are cheating the system, and that is very dangerous.”

Disability Rights UK is a registered charity which produces information, products and services developed by and for disabled people.

Mr Connelly has argued the announcement from the Government has led to an implication that disabled people are cheating the system, saying: “the truth is that the test is unfair.

“I urge people themselves to go online and read the test for themselves, to decide if it is fair and come to their own conclusions.

“Other consequences flow from this injustice: You cannot allow the suggestion to arise that disabled people are workshy, feckless or possibly fraudulent and then expect employers to want to take them on.

“You cannot permit a negative view of disabled people to be the norm and then not think that some members of the public will not think that they are fair game for abuse or even physical violence.

No

It is better to see if people with disabilities can work with support and give them more independence, rather than writing them off as on long-term sickness benefits, according to the Government.

The Government has announced over one million disabled people who applied for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) were found fit to work through Work Capability Assessments over a five year period from 2008 to 2013.

Analysis from the Department for Work and Pensions also showed more than one million others withdrew their claim before reaching a face-to-face assessment. Applicants might have recovered and returned to work during this time or started claiming for a more appropriate benefit.

Minister of State for Disabled People Mike Penning said: “As part of the Government’s long-term economic plan, it is only fair that we look at whether people can do some kind of work with the right support – rather than just writing them off on long-term sickness benefits, as has happened in the past.

“With the right support, many people with an illness, health condition or disability can still fulfil their aspiration to get or stay in work, allowing them to provide for themselves and their family.”

The Department for Work and Pensions has described their work to reform the benefits system as a key part of the Government’s long-term economic plan to build a stronger economy, so ESA can support those unable to work and those who are found fit to work can be given help to find employment.

To read more on the announcement visit: www.homecare.co.uk/news/article.cfm/id/1562271/one-million-found-fit-to-work-annoucement-plays-into-narrative-disabled-cheating-system