Hi,
For those of you who don't think that epetitions are a waste of time, please sign below if you agree that benefits payments for families with disabled children should not be cut:
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/915
This govt plan is terrible. The disability premium I receive on my child tax credit is not huge, but certainly helps with the extra costs involved in bringing up a disabled child.
I do agree that it means that there is a discrepancy in disability payments for adults and children, though. My disabled son is now 16, so I had the choice to decide whether to help him claim Employment Support Allowance, or continue claiming benefits with him as a dependant child till he's 20. When I calculated how much we would be losing with him changing to adult benefits, my decision was a no-brainer.
Surely the fairer option for equality would be to increase adult payments, not reduce the child payments. I know that the country is not flush with money ATM, but, because of Ivan, surely Cameron realises the extra difficulties involved in caring for a disabled child or adult, and that not every family is as rich as his.
Although I was partly reassured by the statement in the paper article (doesn't seem to be mentioned in the online one I've copied and pasted below) that current claimants will not lose out, I think that it is awful that in future poor families with disabled children will not receive as much. I sincerely hope that this legislation fails.
Here is the Times article (no link as paywalled - I did try to find an article on it on the BBC website so I could just post a link, but no joy):
Charities put pressure on Cameron with online petition over welfare reform
Families with disabled children face a benefits cut of around £1,400 a year, say charities
Michael Savage Political Correspondent
August 5 2011 12:01AM
David Cameron is facing the first major challenge to his Government’s plan to streamline Britain’s benefits system after it emerged that the families of 100,000 disabled children stand to lose thousands of pounds a year.
Some of Britain’s biggest charities, including Save the Children, Barnado’s, Gingerbread and The Children’s Society, are attempting to force a Commons debate on the cut, heaping pressure on Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary, to rethink his “universal credit”.
Support is to be cut by almost half, up to £27 a week for families with a disabled child, meaning they will lose about £1,400 a year and £22,000 in all by the time their child reaches the age of 16. Families with two disabled children face losing twice as much.
A group of 25 charities are using the Government’s new e-petitions scheme to try to secure a Commons debate. If their petition earns 100,000 signatures, MPs will have to consider a vote.
Bob Reitemeier, chief executive of The Children’s Society, said that the cuts on household incomes ould push many families into poverty.
Figures inside No 10 have so far been surprised at the lack of opposition from lobby groups about the Government’s enefits proposal,which epresents the biggest overhaul of welfare since Gordon Brown introduced tax credits in 1997.
However, there are now serious concerns among charities about the universal credit.
Under the current system, families with one or more disabled children receive extra payments through child tax credit. The universal benefit will see the maximum level of support cut from £54 a week to £27.
Ministers are to hold further meetings with charities when MPs return to Parliament in September as they attempt to iron out concerns over the new ystem. The change, is intended to save the Government about £100 million a year.
In their petition, the charities say: “Don’t let disabled children pay the price for welfare reform.
“Following the introduction of the Government’s new Universal Credit welfare system, many families with disabled children will face a cut to the financial support they receive.
“Because the support is means-tested the poorest families could stand to lose the most. Now is the time to make some noise and ensure that these damaging proposals do not get approved. Disabled children should not pay the price for welfare reform — sign this petition to stop this cut.”
Mr Duncan Smith won a protracted battle with George Osborne, the Chancellor, in securingfor permission to proceed with the universal credit, his pet project. Its aim is to encourage people into work by ensuring that those who find employment can keep more of their benefits.
Charitable groups increasingly suspect, however, that the new system, combined with the £18 billion squeeze on benefits, will cause many vulnerable groups to lose out.
“The Government has set aside £2 billion over the next four years for the introduction of the universal credit,” said Mr Reitemeier. “At a time of strict financial constraints, how can they possibly justify such additional spending if it fails to support the most vulnerable families with disabled children?”
Officials have indicated that benefits for children have risen much faster than those for disabled adults and want to align the two. The universal credit will replace a series of other benefits from October 2013.
In response, ministers have drawn up plans for “cash protection” to ensure there are no net losers as a result of the change. However, that protection will not be linked to inflation, meaning all families will eventually be weaned on to the new, lower payment. Families may also lose the extra help if their circumstances change.
Those receiving the benefit for the first time from October 2013 will instantly be put on to the new system.
Anne Marie Carrie, chief executive of Barnardo’s, said that taking money away from families caring from disabled children would contradict the Government’s declared aim of makingto make the benefits system fairer.
“Parents of disabled children have enough challenges to overcome without having to worry about their finances being under threat,” she said. “Taking money away from families with disabled children will mean that the Government’s welfare reforms will fundamentally fail in their aim to target support at those most in need.
“Families with disabled children already have to juggle their caring responsibilities with additional living costs and could be pushed below the poverty line if these proposals go ahead.”
A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said that the universal credit would ensure that disabled people would receive help that is “more consistent throughout their life”, adding: “Universal credit will create a simpler, and fairer system and will target support to those who need it most.
“Disabled adults in greatest need and some disabled children will receive more support than now. and there will be no cash losers as a result of the move to universal credit.
“We continue to spend over £40 billion a year on disabled people and their services and our commitment to help support disabled people live independent lives runs at the heart of our welfare reforms,” she said.
Case study
Antony Best, 23, from Bradford, is a full-time father after losing his wife to swine flu last winter. He has three children to look after and two of them also have a disability. Casie, 4, has Down’s syndrome, while her eight-month-old brother, Alfie, has cerebral palsy.
Mr Best is already relying on family and friends to help him out with caring from time to time and his budget is at breaking point. He receives £197 a month from the tax credit and disability allowance systems.
“I can spend more than that just getting the basics for the kids, and that is before I have thought about feeding myself,” he said.
“Any cut to what we survive on now would have a real impact on our living. So many of the things we need every day, like milk for my youngest and nappies, are already more expensive . . . We just about manage.”
