Disability benefits campaign
Help us campaign against cuts to disability benefits and
for a better welfare system to support people with Parkinson's and their carers.
The welfare system in the UK is undergoing a process of huge
reform and cuts to the budget of £18billion over the next few
years.
Many of these reforms are in the Welfare
Reform Act, which became an Act in March 2012. A number of
reforms are targeted at disability benefits.
The Welfare Reform Act is now law. But there are still
opportunities to make sure that people with Parkinson's and carers
can access the disability benefits they need.
The Hardest Hit: stop the cuts
We're supporting The Hardest Hit, a campaign
which aims to fight the cuts to disability benefit support and are
members of the 50 charity strong Disability
Benefits Consortium.
Take action
Sign a parliamentary
debate petition calling for a cumulative impact report on the cuts
on disabled people.
Write to your MP and ask them to monitor the companies who'll
be assessing disabled people for the new benefit PIP, that will
replace DLA (see below).
12,000 petition signatures
We ran our own petition in October 2012, during the Hardest
Hit 2012 week of action.
Over 12,000 people added their name and support in a call
to the Minister for Disabled People.
We called on the Government to make sure that people with
Parkinson's don't lose their vital financial support when
Disability Living Allowance changes to Personal Independence
Payment in 2013.
Many people also wrote to their MP.
What are the changes to Disability Living Allowance?
The Welfare Reform Act gave the green light to reform Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to become the
Personal Independence Payment (PIP). PIP is introduced for new
claimants from April 2013.
Everyone of working age (16-64) who receives DLA was due to be
reassessed for eligibility for PIP between October 2013 and spring
2016.
Thanks to the outcry from campaigners the Government has said
that for most people on DLA the reassessments now won't start until
October 2015.
This will allow for an independent review in 2014 on how PIP is
working for new claimants. The government also backtracked and
have put safeguards in law for people with a fluctuating
condition.
But we are still worried about stricter rules for 'mobility'
which could see people with Parkinson's losing vital support for
travel and transport costs. And we are concerned that how
people will be assessed will depend on where they live -
with Atos Healthcare and Capita the companies who'll be operating
the assessments in different parts of the UK.
Read more the changes on our Personal
Independence Payment page.
Why campaign for fair Employment and Support Allowance
tests?
I could not believe what the doctor at the assessment asked me to do. She said could I stop shaking while doing a test.
I'd love to be able to stop shaking but I can't!
We believe the tests of eligibility for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) are too
crude and simplistic to take account of the full symptoms and
fluctuating nature of Parkinson's. And we're campaigning for
changes.
Although changes are being made around the process for getting
ESA and how people are treated by assessors, no changes to the
tests have taken place.
We're alarmed that people with severe and progressive
Parkinson's are still being put in the ESA group where a 'return to
work' is expected.
The Welfare Reform Act also affects ESA claimants as some will
have their ESA withdrawn after only one year. This is deeply
unfair.
More information
You'll find more background information, including reports and
consultations including our suggestions for how DLA and ESA should
change, on our policy page on welfare
reform.
We've also published information on the changes to benefits in 2013. These pages may
help answer your questions on the changes and how they may affect
people with Parkinson's.
Get involved
We want to make sure that the voices of people affected by
Parkinson's are heard in these reforms.
- Sign up to our Campaigns Network -
we'll update you on our welfare reform work.
- Share your experiences of applying for Employment and Support
Allowance.
- Sign a parliamentary
debate petition that calls for a cumulative impact report on
the cuts on disabled people.
-
Write to your MP to ask them to monitor the companies running
Personal Independence Payment in their area.
Contact us on campaigns@parkinsons.org.uk
or 020 7963 9307.
- email
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