(186) disability & the cuts (september 2011)

Disability & the Cuts

Dr Simon Duffy, Sheffield, September 2011

Thursday, 20 October 11

Who Am I?

• Dr
Simon
Duﬀy
-‐
Director
of
The
Centre
for

Welfare
Reform

• Policy
Adviser
to
Campaign
for
a
Fair

Society
-‐
on
a
voluntary
basis

• Real
life
-‐
Live
in
Mosborough,
Sheﬃeld

• Past
-‐
Invented
many
of
the
ideas
(like

Individual
Budgets)
that
now
go
under
the

name
‘Personalisation’


The Campaign for a Fair Society
• Beginnings
-‐
began
on
8th
February
2011
by

people
horriﬁed
at
the
likely
impact
of
the

Spending
Review.
• Members
-‐
Over
1,000
individuals
and
100

organisations
are
members.
• UK-‐wide
-‐
There
are
Scottish,
Welsh
&
English

Steering
Groups
-‐
connected
federally
in
a
UK

group.

• Communications
-‐
information
on
web,

twitter,
facebook
etc
-‐

www.campaignforafairsociety.org


What’s wrong with the cuts?

• Macro-‐economics
-‐
it
will
further
economic

depression
-‐
maybe

• Public
services
-‐
it
is
an
attack
of
public

services
and
the
welfare
state
-‐
maybe

• Unfairness
worry
-‐
the
cuts
target
the
very

groups
who
were
already
treated
unfairly
and

worsen
their
absolute
and
relative
positions
-‐

YES
-‐
deﬁnitely


To explore...

• Which
groups
are
aﬀected?
• How
do
the
cuts
target
these
groups?
• Why
do
the
cuts
target
these
groups?
• What
should
we
advocate
for
instead?
• What
should
we
do
about
it?

This is a pincer attack on the rights of disabled people. If
we just focus on the 1.5 million people with the most
significant disabilities - over the next four years they are
likely to lose:
• £4.6
billion
in
social
care
support
• £4
billion
in
disability
living
allowance
• Termination
of
ILF
• Cuts
to
Supporting
People
• Many
further
cuts
in
housing
support

• Reductions
to
other
beneﬁts
-‐
especially
for
those
not
in

work
-‐
e.g.
changes
in
indexation
So, more than £8 billion of the total £27 billion (>>25%)
which government is saving from departmental budgets is
being born by less than 3% of the population - those who
are least able to bear these cuts.

The emerging reality


And many other cuts will continue to fall on:
• People with less severe,
but still signiﬁcant,
disabilities

• People with mental
health problems

• Women su ering
domestic violence

• People not in work

• Refugees and asylum
seekers

We are already the most centralised welfare state in the world.

An economic crisis caused by the bursting
of a bubble created by...

• Bankers
who
benefited
from
bonuses
• Home
owners
who
benefited
from
unsustainable

house
price
increases
• Investors
who
benefited
from
unsustainable
profits
in

finance
industry
• Politicians
who
benefited
from
the
illusion
of
a

booming
economy

Who did not benefit from the bubble? - the
poor and disabled people

Not just cuts - but targeted cuts

Protected Cut
Pensions Disability bene ts
Healthcare Social Care
Education Social Housing
£350 billion out of £500 £40 billion
Universal, mainstream, for Special, marginal, ‘the poor
‘ordinary people like us’ & unfortunate’

Delivered by nationalised Delivered by complex
systems with high visibility systems with low visibility

Political pandering


Central control - local weakness...

We are already the most centralised welfare state in the world.

Poverty & Welfare Reform

1. e poor can be very poor indeed - the poorest must
live on £2,780 per year - compared to mean
household income of £50,000 per year (<6%).
2. e poor pay marginal taxes of around 100% on their
earnings and they pay more tax as a percentage of
their income than any other group (!!)
3. Poor lose income if they live together - 25% tax on IS
and have no incentive to save or invest.
4. e UK is the third most unequal society aer USA
and Portugal


One cheer! - recognition that
tax-benefit system is flawed

1. The
recognition
that
the
poor
are
over-‐taxed
2. That
the
benefit
system
is
unfair
and
unduly

complex
3. That
the
benefit
system
is
stigmatising
4. That
the
tax
and
benefit
systems
should
be

integrated


137
diﬀerent

ways...
to
give
people

not
very
much...
• linked
or
not
• means-‐tested
or
not
• tax
credits
or
beneﬁts
• disability
related
or

not
• employment-‐seeking

or
not


Citizens
Advice
acknowledges
that
the
£1.5
billion
cost
of
fraud

in
the
benefit
system
must
be
recovered,
but
we
are
very

concerned
at
the
government’s
persistent
tendency
to
roll

fraud
and
error
figures
together.
Errors
account
for
the

remaining
£3.7
billion
of
the
£5.2
billion
figure
quoted...

In
the
meantime,
the
£5
billion
cost
to
government
through

fraud
and
error
is
dwarfed
by
the
£17
billion
of
benefits
and
tax

credits
that
remain
un-‐claimed
every
year,
because
people

don’t
know
they
are
entitled
to
claim,
or
because
the
system
is

too
complicated.
The
danger
of
making
benefits
more
difficult

to
claim
is
that
people
in
real
need
will
not
receive
the
money

they
need
to
pay
their
rent,
keep
their
families
warm,
or
feed

their
children.

Teresa
Perchard
,
Director
of
Social
Policy
at
Citizens
Advice

Government
defrauds
the
poor

at
more
than
11
times
the
rate

at
which
the
poor
defraud
the

government


The cuts are just a symptom - there
are long-standing problems to address
• Weak
entitlements
-‐
eligibility
thresholds
high
and
rising,

housing
rights
weak,
legal
rights
weak
• Super-‐taxation
for
disabled
people
-‐
means-‐testing,

charging
• Poverty
traps
-‐
beneﬁt
systems
that
punish
families,
savers,

earners
and
disabled
people
• Weakened
families
-‐
support
focused
on
crises,family

control
undermined,
families
disrespected
• Imprisonment
for
many
-‐
up
to
20,000
people
with

learning
diﬃculties
in
prison
• Pre-‐birth
and
at-‐birth
eugenics
-‐
92%
abortion
rate
for

unborn
children
with
Down’s
syndrome
(UK)

Core Values

Everyone
is
equal,
no
matter
their
diﬀerences

or
disabilities.
A
fair
society
sees
each
of
its

members
as
a
full
citizen
-‐
a
unique
person

with
a
life
of
their
own.
A
fair
society
is

organised
to
support
everyone
to
live
a
full

life,
with
meaning
and
respect.

1. Family
-‐
we
give
families
the
support
they
need
to
look
after

each
other.
2. Citizenship
-‐
we
are
all
of
equal
value
and
all
have
unique

and
positive
contributions
to
make.
3. Community
-‐
we
root
support
and
services
in
local

communities.
4. Connection
-‐
we
all
get
chances
to
make
friends
and
build

relationships.
5. Capacity
-‐
we
help
each
other
to
be
the
best
that
we
can
be.
6. Equality
-‐
we
all
share
the
same
basic
rights
and

entitlements.
7. Control
-‐
we
have
the
help
we
need
to
be
in
control
of
our

own
life
and
support.

Manifesto
1. human
rights:
this
means
embracing
the
European
Convention
on
Human

Rights...
a
fundamental
redesign
of
the
obligations
of
government
at
every
level

to
secure
citizenship
for
all.
2. the
right
to
support
as
an
objective
right
established
in
law:
this
will

remove
the
dependency
of
older
and
disabled
people
on
‘gifts’
from

professionals...
3. provide
families
and
individuals
with
early
support:
this
will
prevent
crises,

reduce
the
need
for
expensive
interventions,
and
end
the
indignity
of
severe

eligibility
thresholds.
4. put
people
back
in
control
of
their
own
lives:
this
will
enhance
personal

autonomy
and
dignity
by
restoring
people’s
right
to
control
both
their
lives
and

any
essential
support
that
they
need.
5. good
housing:
this
will
give
people
the
right
to
live
in
their
own
accessible

homes,
with
a
choice
of
the
full
range
of
diﬀerent
types
of
tenure...
6. guaranteed
minimum
income
free
from
means-‐testing:
this
will
create
the

necessary
incentives
for
people
to
work
and
make
contributions
to
civic
life...
7. end
the
current
super-‐tax
on
older
and
disabled
people
levied
through

local
authority
charges:
this
will
end
the
indignity
of
older
people
having
to

spend
or
give
away
all
their
savings...


Action

• Use
the
Law?
• Connect
with
local
advocacy
groups?
• Demonstrate,
complain
-‐
make
abuse
of

human
rights
public?
• Join
the
Campaign?
• Develop
the
case
for
a
fairer
system?

(186) disability & the cuts (september 2011)

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