Analysis of Budget 2024 against DPCG Pre-budget Statement
"In the run-up to the budget, the government has announced there will be ‘no return to austerity.’ But in relation to Disabled people, the plans announced so far look indistinguishable from it. 14 years of draconian cuts have had a terrible impact on our community. Most food bank users live in Disabled households. Many of us cannot heat our homes or charge essential health and mobility equipment because of rising energy costs. One in three disabled people live in poverty – a far higher rate than non-disabled people. Years of policies have failed to address our problems. We need something different."
Comment on budget contents related to this paragraph: Nothing specific announced on tackling poverty among Disabled people. Further £1 billion for the Household Support Fund for local authorities to ‘support households facing the greatest hardship’. (This is the same amount as allocated last year)
"This is why we are deeply disappointed to not yet see Labour investing in the social infrastructure that we, and the country, so desperately need. Labour’s self-imposed fiscal limits and tax pledges are generating short-term thinking. We are seeing decisions that may save money in the short run but risk costing more overall – as well as being fundamentally unjust, such as the move to means-test the Winter Fuel Payment. This will leave millions of Disabled older people in the cold without support this winter, likely leading to higher costs borne by the NHS. We know that austerity undermines healthy societies: it starves vital government services of resources, and often reduces economic growth rather than promoting it."
Comment on budget contents: Cuts to Winter Fuel Payment confirmed
"Disabled people make up almost a quarter of the population. We provide essential contributions to our families, communities, and workplaces – including often acting as unpaid carers. We need the government to enable us to thrive and flourish, not to label us as a burden. But at the Labour party conference, we heard repeated messages that stigmatised Disabled and sick people as ‘economically inactive,’ ignoring our contributions."
Comment on budget contents: The budget continues the ‘economically inactive’ language. It also repeatedly groups discussion of reforms to health and disability benefits and new programmes to tackle welfare fraud.
"The Prime Minister argued everyone receiving social security payments due to long-term sickness should look for work, calling this a necessary ‘sacrifice’ applicable even in ‘hard cases’ – implicitly, those who would be harmed by work.
The government also relaunched earlier Conservative plans to pass a ‘Fraud, Error, and Debt Bill’ that would subject us to disproportionate and invasive surveillance of our bank accounts. This is despite Personal Independence Payment, the flagship social security payment for Disabled people, having a 0% fraud rate in the most recent government statistics."
Comment on budget contents: Fraud, Error, and Debt Bill reconfirmed, including new powers for the DWP to take money direct from claimants’ bank accounts if fraud is identified.
"These stigmatising narratives generate ‘solutions’ that do not work. Studies have shown, for example, that sanctioning social security recipients makes them less likely to find work. The current system has an abysmal record. Protecting people against poverty makes it more likely they will be able to find work, however the UK’s social security system is currently unable to do this. It offers some of the lowest rates of out of work payments in the OECD, despite the UK being one of the richest countries in the group."
Comment on budget contents: Uprating of working age benefits is by CPI, 1.7%, substantially lower than uprating for pensions age benefits which tracks average wage growth at 4.1%
"We welcome the government’s focus on strengthening workers’ rights. We are also pleased to see plans to introduce a separate bill mandating disability pay gap reporting for large companies. However, the draft Employment Rights Bill, which includes specific measures to strengthen some areas of equalities legislation, does not mention Disabled people or the specific challenges we face in the workplace. This is despite disability discrimination being a major factor contributing to our low rates of employment."
Comment on budget contents: No funding announced for implementation of the Disability Pay Gap Reporting bill. Nothing related to discriminatory barriers to work announced.
"We agree that increasing appropriate assistance to disabled people to find and thrive within suitable work is a good idea. But this will not happen if government interventions focus on punishing those out of work rather than dealing with the barriers to getting into and staying in it. We call on the government to use this budget to invest in social infrastructure so that those Disabled people who are able to work get the right kinds of support to do so."
Comment related to budget content: Announcement that the government will go ahead with the level of cuts to the disability-related social security bill announced under the previous Conservative government. The way they do this may change from Conservative proposals to make the Work Capability Assessment more stringent though. There will be a Green Paper published next Spring setting out the proposed reforms to both WCA and PIP.
"This includes:
healthcare without excessive waiting times;"
Comment on budget content: NHS England budget increasing by 4% in real terms - highest since 2010 excluding Covid years
"independent living services;"
Comment on budget content: Nothing on independent living. £600 million additional grant funding for local authority provided social care. This is 2% of the 2023/4 annual budget for LA social care.
"accessible housing;"
Comment on budget content: £86 million extra for the Disabled Facilities Grant, which is intended to provide 7,800 more home adaptations. Nothing on accessibility within the plans for new housing.
"well-resourced Special Educational Needs services;"
Comment on budget content: An additional £1 billion for SEND, which is 6% growth in real terms. The SEND funding gap is estimated at £4 billion.
"effective enforcement of equalities legislation such as the right to reasonable adjustments in the workplace;"
Comment on budget content: Nothing on this - all employment support announced in the budget targets the out of work Disabled people, not employers. What is included: £240 million overall for the ‘Get Britain Working’ White Paper implementation. To include: ‘test new approaches and collect robust evidence on how to tackle the root causes of ill-health-related inactivity, support young people who are ‘not in education, employment, or training’ (NEET), and help people to develop their careers’ and ‘eight trailblazer areas across England and Wales that bring together health, employment and skills services to improve the support available to those who are inactive due to ill health and help them return to work. This will include NHS England Health and Growth Accelerators in at least three Integrated Care Systems to develop evidence of the impact of targeted action on the top health conditions driving economic inactivity’.
"And adequate social security payments, reflecting the cost of living with disability, as well as other financial support such as an energy social tariff targeted at Disabled people with high energy needs."
Comment on budget content: Actively doing the opposite - the Chancellor announced Labour would put through the planned Conservative cuts to Disability and Health-related social security. There will be a consultation on this following the Green Paper publication in Spring.
All working-age benefits will be uprated by CPI: 1.7%. Pension-age benefits will be uprated by 4.1% (which is equal to earnings growth).
Nothing on social tariff for energy
Incredibly low historic investment in these areas has placed a huge burden on Disabled people, exacerbating physical and mental health problems to crisis point. Local government has been starved of funding, with the costs of essential services such as care and personal assistance being displaced onto Disabled people, forcing many of us into debt.
Comment on budget content: £26 million to open new mental health crisis units centres (pitched as reducing pressure on A&E and connected to government’s aim to help people return to work).
Investing in these areas would help correct some of the injustices of the austerity period. It would also be far more effective at getting Disabled people who are able to work into employment, providing a huge medium- to long-term return for the government. For example, Disabled people living in accessible accommodation are four times more likely to be employed. Alongside this, the government must recognise that some Disabled people are unable to work and ensure that we are able to maintain a decent standard of living, without being made to feel guilty for existing.
For too long, solutions have been created for Disabled people’s lives without our involvement, resulting in discriminatory and unworkable approaches. This government states they want to ‘work with’ Disabled people when developing policy, but, so far, we are not seeing this happen. To make effective policy for Disabled people, our lived experience must be at the centre, through coproduction with us and our Disabled people-led organisations.
Comment on budget content: Nothing on this.
Written by: Disability Poverty Campaign Group (DPCG)
The Disability Poverty Campaign Group (DPCG) is a coalition of DPOs (Disabled People’s Organisations) from across the UK. Our campaigning is also supported by a group of allies, which includes charities, research institutions, and carers’ organisations. Together we work to end the scandal of disability poverty in the UK.
The DPCG steering group is provided by Disability Rights UK and Inclusion London. A list of members and supporters is available at www.disabilityrightsuk.org/disability-poverty-campaign-group
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