Benefits shake-up could force 500,000 disabled people into poverty

UP TO half a million disabled people could be forced into poverty as a result of a planned shake-up of the benefits system, charities have warned.

A number of organisations today called on the UK Government to reconsider proposed changes to Disability Living Allowance (DLA).

The Welfare Reform Bill, which will implement the proposed reforms, is now in its final stages but it has been claimed that details of how the new legislation would affect disabled people have not been fully investigated.

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A joint statement from charities including Papworth Trust, Action on Hearing Loss, Disability Rights UK, the National Autistic Society and Sense called on the government to pause the Bill, which they believe “may have been based on incomplete or misleading data about the reasons for growth in DLA”.

The statement said: “Independent surveys carried out by some of the signatories to this letter have shown that cuts to DLA will force more disabled people into poverty, which is likely to increase the burden on the NHS and social care system in the long run.”

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