The political activist and author Helen Keller once said: "Until the great mass of the people shall be filled with the sense of responsibility for each other's welfare, social justice can never be attained."
Simon Greenwood is 29 and has a severe learning disability and autism. He needs constant round-the-clock care, and cannot be left alone. He lives in a residential care home, and receives the mobility component of the disability living allowance (DLA), which is used for a car through the Motability scheme, so his father and carers from the home can take him out on day trips, and Simon can take part in activities, such as swimming or riding a bike. There is no chance of Simon's condition ever improving, so he was awarded the mobility component of DLA "for life". The government plans to cut this mobility component of DLA for those in residential care, which is going to be incredibly detrimental to Simon and 58,000 other disabled people. Simon's father, Vincent, is incredibly worried:
"We feel we have been set back many years, years of striving for the best for our child. Are we never to know peace that society will look after him properly when we are gone?"
Unfortunately, thousands of disabled people are concerned and have never been so worried for their own welfare since the comprehensive spending review and the latest consultation on the changes to DLA.
This cut to the mobility component of DLA makes one wonder whether George Osborne thinks care-home residents never go out, instead sitting in wheelchairs staring out the window all day. The mobility component can help towards mobility vehicles and electric wheelchairs and scooters. If someone is unable to use public transport, they can pay for taxis with the mobility benefit. These measures will make disabled people isolated from society and lacking any leisure time and social life.
On Monday it was also announced that the independent living fund (ILF) is to be scrapped too. It is a lifeline benefit for the most severely disabled people who receive the highest rate of the care component of DLA, and who require more than £340 a week support from the council.
This means anyone who requires lots of extra or constant help will be deprived of support to help them pay for additional care or services. From paying for carers and assistants to cook meals or get food shopping, to cleaning and laundry services, the ILF covers the cost of help with basic needs that able people can manage themselves to function and live comfortably. DLA is being changed, as the government seems to think supporting the disabled is "unsustainable", and with the scrapping of ILF which helps the worst off, it is as though those in power see the disabled as the poorly dog they can't afford to keep any more.
The government also isn't doing much to make clear the fact that DLA is not an out-of-work benefit – a disabled person is entitled to it whether they are able to work or not, yet the latest consultation document suggests that DLA is a barrier to employment. It is simply not true; DLA enables disabled people to work by helping cover the cost of transport to get to work and also for equipment and software that would aid them in getting on with their job. Perpetuating the myth that DLA prevents disabled people from working just stirs the assertion that disabled people are lazy scroungers, when the truth is that they would like nothing more than to work and contribute like everyone else. There are some people who try to fool the system, but attempting to fish out the estimated 0.4% of cases involving overpayment attributable to fraud – an incredibly low percentage, even lower than the Department for Work and Pensions office error rate – is tarring the deserving people who need the financial support. This fear of being seen as a fraudster is putting disabled people off from doing gardening, going for a walk or being seen in the pub, through being reported to the DWP.
As for the increase in people claiming DLA, nobody seems to consider the advance in healthcare, particularly paediatric medicine, which is enabling otherwise very sick adults and children to live. There are more surviving disabled young adults today, thanks to medicine and improvements in care. Nobody would disagree that children with diseases having an increased chance of surviving and growing into adults is a great thing.
DLA aside, the cuts to local services are going to affect disabled people in towns and cities all through the country. Respite services are being stopped, transport services for accessible or discounted travel – such as the Taxicard scheme in London – are being restricted and may end altogether. The card helps those who cannot use buses or tubes, by making expensive London black cabs – which are the most wheelchair-accessible type of taxi – more affordable, helping to pay for fares to hospital appointments and necessary shopping trips. Cuts to the service will make longer journeys cost more, defeating the point of the card. All of these cuts, direct or indirect will also affect carers of disabled people too, who receive a paltry allowance of just £53.90 a week.
With all this, and constant worries about health, hospital visits and endless tests and consultations, it is no wonder disabled people are among the most anxious about the cuts the government are making.
Websites such as The Broken of Britain and Where's The Benefit? tell the stories of disabled people today. These accounts of the fears that disabled people have are troubling to read. Mencap is calling for people to email Maria Miller, the minister for disabled people to ask her to try to get the government to reverse the decision on DLA.
The disabled community sometimes face discrimination from bullies who are ignorant and hold attitudes that should have been forgotten years ago, but there are bigger bullies in power who have no clue about the lives of those they are damaging. These people cannot quickly rally together and protest as easily as the students can either, so their message is never heard or reported on the front page. The disabled have never been made more aware of their disabilities, and they are being punished.
