A Welsh MP has launched a campaign to stop cuts to disability benefits through Parliament today.
Hywel Williams, MP for Arfon in North Wales, has tabled two Early Day Motions: one against the abolition of the Disability Living Allowance (DLA), and another against time-limiting the employment and support allowance.
Williams is has personal experience of disability and is a former social worker.
In a debate in Parliament last month on DLA reforms he said:
A close relative of mine, a young person severely injured in a car accident, was in just such circumstances in the early 1970s and was living in the community after extended medical treatment. At the time, mobility allowance made all the difference. It transformed his life then, and it still does now, given that he lives in a remote rural area and depends on his own transport.
The EDM against the abolition of the DLA states:
That this House is deeply concerned by the abolition of disability living allowance (DLA) and its replacement with the personal independence payment (PIP) as provided for in the Welfare Reform Bill; believes that the Government is yet to make a convincing case for reform, as noted by academics, campaigners and the Social Security Advisory Committee; notes that, whilst there may be a case for objective evidence-gathering, the Government’s plans for a face-to-face assessment will disadvantage some claimants and will mean that specialist evidence is not given due priority; further believes that the Government is misguided in its claim that PIP will be better targeted than DLA as the reforms involve a simplification of the benefit rates of payment which reduces the ability to personalise payment according to need; further notes that the Government’s target of a 20 per cent. reduction in DLA expenditure, as announced in the 2010 Budget, will lead to up to 620,000 disabled people being denied support with no justification of this policy forthcoming; and urges the Government to remove from the bill all provisions relating to DLA reform.
The EDMs are intended to keep up the pressure on this Government as the Welfare Reform Bill is subjected to Parliamentary scrutiny in the Welfare Reform Bill Committee.
The second one against time limiting of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) states:
That this House notes with extreme concern the provisions for time-limiting contribution-related employment and support allowance (ESA) to 12 months included in the Welfare Reform Bill; recognises that ESA claimants will be means-tested for income-related ESA when this period has elapsed, and that an ESA claimant with a spouse or partner working over 24 hours a week will not then be eligible for the benefit; believes that time-limiting ESA isa serious disincentive to work for the partners and carers of ESA claimants, leading to a situation where unemployment is more financially sustainable than work; further believes that time-limiting ESA punishes working families where one member claims ESA; and urges the Government to remove time-limiting ofESA from the bill prior to its Third Reading.
Rhydian Fôn James of disability rights campaign The Broken of Britain, told Liberal Conspiracy that he was extremely fortunate to be one of Mr. Williams’ constituents.
He said the government’s proposals were ludicrous for, “severely punishing working families with a disabled member – and clearly designed to slash the bill for benefit payment without thought for the thousands left in poverty.”