XPertByExperien 167 #1 Posted March 15, 2023 (edited) Quote Today, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced his so called ‘back to work’ budget. The Government also released the long-awaited Health and Disability White Paper, which has key changes to the benefits system. We know these kinds of announcements sharing big changes can be worrying for many disabled people, so we're here to summarise what's happened. It's worth remembering that these changes won't come into play for years yet, but we think it's important to start thinking about what they might mean for you. For more information and Scope’s views on the impact of these announcements, you can read today’s blog on our website. The big news Benefits and work We'll start with a campaign win... Specialist benefit assessors to be tested The Government will trial matching a person’s primary health condition to a specialist assessor, trained in the functional impacts of specific health conditions. This is great news, and down to your campaigning! Over 30,000 Scope campaigners like you joined our Disability Benefits Without the Fight campaign, calling for specialist assessors. A huge thank you for campaigning – it makes changes like this possible. We'll keep you updated. Work Capability Assessment scrapped The Government is getting rid of the Work Capability Assessment (WCA). It’s being replaced by the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment. It’s right that the WCA is going. But the plan to replace it with the PIP assessment is worrying, given the many problems with that assessment. Universal Support programme introduced Universal Support will be a new voluntary work support scheme for disabled people. It will match individuals with existing job vacancies, and provide funding for training and workplace support. This is good news. We've campaigned for better voluntary support for many years. But this needs to go hand in hand with tackling the wider barriers disabled people face with getting into and staying in work. Keep your disability benefits while you try out work The Government will change Universal Credit. It will remove the 'limited capability for work and work-related activity' (LCWRA) element, so that people can try out working without fear of losing their benefits. In theory, this is good, but we want to see more detail. We’re concerned it could lead to disabled people being forced to look for work, or facing unworkable conditions and sanctions. More rigorous sanctions There’ll be more rigorous sanctions for those who are deemed not to have met their work commitments on Universal Credit. This is very concerning. Far too many disabled people are wrongly found fit to work. We'll keep lobbying the Government to make clear these sanctions should not apply to disabled people. The cost of living Energy Price Guarantee extended The Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) will be extended until the end of June. This means the average typical energy bill will stay at £2,500 instead of going up to £3,000 from April, as previously expected. This will be a short-term help, but we’re disappointed the Chancellor has missed this opportunity to think more long-term and commit to a social energy tariff. Extra charges on prepayment meters dropped Prepayment meter (PPM) charges will be brought in line with comparable direct debit charges until the end of June, saving PPM customers an average of £45 a year. This is good, but they need to go further and permanently ban the forced installation of PPMs for disabled people. Scope's thoughts on the Budget Thoughts? Edited March 15, 2023 by XPertByExperien More detail. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
