These are the main areas of savings outlined in the spending review presented by the Treasury on 20 October 2010. The DWP has now published a summary of the changes in the spending review that affect disabled people, available at www.dwp.gov.uk/adviser/updates/spending-review-2010/.
Children and young people
Withdrawal of child benefit from families with a higher rate taxpayer from January 2013 (already known).
Replacement of education maintenance allowance (EMA) in England with locally managed discretionary funds to target support (basically a topping-up of the money schools and colleges receive to distribute in discretionary hardship grants)
. Payments will be focused on the most disadvantaged children, saving around £0.5 billion.
Council Tax
Reduction in spending on council tax benefits by 10 per cent.
Heating
Making permanent the temporary increases to cold weather payments provided in the past two winters so that eligible households receive £25 for each seven day cold spell recorded or forecast where they live.
Rent/housing costs
Increase in the age threshold for the Shared Room Rate in Housing Benefit from 25 to 35.
Capping of household benefit payments from 2013 at around £500 per week for couple and lone parent households and around £350 per week for single adult households. All Disability Living Allowance claimants, War Widows, and working families claiming the working tax credits will be exempt from the cap (already known).
Extending for a further year the temporary change to the Support for Mortgage Interest scheme.
Retirement
The State Pension Age will increase to 66 for both men and women from December 2018 to April 2020. The Government is also considering future increases to the State Pension.
Freezing of maximum savings credit award in pension credit for four years.
Uprating the basic State Pension by a triple guarantee of earnings, prices, or 2.5 per cent, whichever is highest.
Sickness/disability Benefits
Contributory employment and support allowance for those in the Work Related Activity Group time limited to one year.
Removal of disability living allowance mobility component for people in residential care. Note: The DWP business plan 2011-2015 states that the motability extension for hospital in-patients will also be removed.
Social care
Disabled Facilities Grants to rise with inflation.
Over £6 billion funding for the Supporting People programme over the Spending Review period.
Reform of the council housing finance system to build in the resources needed to carry out future disabled housing adaptations required in the council housing stock.
Social housing
Future tenants will be charged nearer the going market rate (80%), to release cash for the building programme. The terms of existing social tenancies and their rent levels remain unchanged.
Tax credits
Reduction of percentage of childcare costs that parents can claim through the childcare element of working tax credit (WTC) from 80 per cent to its previous 70 per cent level in April 2011
Changing the eligibility rules so that couples with children must work 24 hours a week between them, with one partner working at least 16 hours a week in order to qualify for the WTC - subject to some exceptions, including for some disabled people.
Freezing the basic and 30 hour elements of the WTC for three years from 2011- 12
Increase in the child element above indexation by a further £30 in 2011-12 and £50 in 2012-13, in addition to the £150 and £60 increases provided at the June Budget - Note: It has been decided that this will now be calculated according to the consumer price index (CPI)
Universal credit
Over the next two Parliaments the current system of means tested working age benefits and tax credits will gradually be replaced with the Universal Credit (already known). £2 billion has been set aside over the next four years to fund this.
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