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Welfare Reform Green Paper – less money for young disabled peopleAt a meeting with DWP officials at the end of March it became clear that the proposed replacement for incapacity benefit, the employment and support allowance (ESA), is to have a lower rate for under 25s. This is a major change which was not mentioned in the Green Paper.
Although exact figures are not yet known our rough calculations show that, for the first 12 weeks, a 16 year old disabled person would get around £24pw less than under the current system. After a year the loss could be around £35pw (exact figures will vary depending on eligibility for income support and the rates for ESA). This change will impact severely on families whose disabled child claims the new benefit on reaching 16 – in the initial 12 weeks the fall in family income could be significant.
We raised these concerns at a meeting with Margaret Hodge, Minister for Work, and she has asked officials to provide detailed calculations. The lower benefit levels are clearly a consequence of Government’s desire to align and simplify benefits – bringing the new ESA into line with the structure of jobseekers allowance. A policy objective the Government are keen to stick with. However, it is clear that the fall in income for families with disabled children may be higher than realised.
We would urge organisations who have yet to respond to the Green Paper to raise this concern in their response. Those organisations who have already sent in a response can sent in a supplementary response, even after the closing date, and point out that this change was not mentioned in the Green Paper.
Following the response to the Green Paper the Government has stated that young people will receive the same basic allowance for the main phase of ESA as everyone else. This does not seem to apply for the 12 weeks prior to the medical assessment.
