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Campaigners Call for a Delay in Benefits Changes (20 January 2012)

Date: 20/01/2012
Duncan Lewis, Legal News Solicitors, Campaigners Call for a Delay in Benefits Changes

Campaigners have urged the Government to delay reforms to Disability Living Allowance (DLA), claiming that the new medical assessments that will determine an individual’s eligibility are not ready. Lord Low, a former chairperson of the RNIB and crossbench peer, stated that the livelihoods of disabled individuals were at stake. Ministers, meanwhile, have described DLA as being “out of date", adding that £600 million per year was being handed to people who were no longer eligible. Campaigners want the planned reforms to DLA and its replacement benefit, the Personal Independence Payment, to be delayed, pending further consultation. They claim that the proposals will drive an increased number of individuals into poverty. Ministers believe that their plans will focus financial support on those who require it the most.

Introduced in 1992, DLA was designed to aid disabled individuals in coping with the additional costs they face. DLA is currently paid out to two million individuals of working age. However, it has been proposed that the benefit will be withdrawn for half a million individuals by 2015, if the reforms are passed. Lord Low, the Disability Alliance charity’s president, said that the Government had lost sight of the needs of disabled individuals in its quest to save money. He added that disabled individuals fail to have confidence in the Government to deliver an assessment system that takes account of their needs. Disabilities Minister, Maria Miller, claimed that the Government remains committed to enabling individuals with disabilities to live independently.

Duncan Lewis’ dedicated welfare benefits solicitors has assisted a large number of clients in challenging incorrect decisions made by the professionals carrying out medical assessments for state financial support.

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