- Conference
- 2012 National Disabled Members' Conference
- Date
- 20 June 2012
- Decision
- Carried as Amended
The Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is to be replaced from 2013/14 with the new Personal Independence Payment. It is completely clear that the Con-Dem multi-millionaire Government are introducing it to reduce the overall public budget devoted to giving allowances to disabled workers.
Already the draft criteria for assessment of Personal Independence Payment rely heavily on the medical model which fails to give a true representation of the challenges facing disabled workers in employment and in society. It should be more firmly based on the social model of disability.
A basic comparison shows Personal Independence Payment is even inferior to the current Disability Living Allowance as a form of income support. Personal Independence Payment should not proceed without more involvement of disabled workers and further checking should be done on its design for fairness and accuracy.
The stricter assessment criteria set out for Personal Independence Payment are not truly about giving more effective help to disabled workers. They are designed to reduce help and support. The heart of Personal Independence Payment is based on the so called independent health professional working for and paid for by the Government. They will advise the DWP who can get Personal Independence Payment based on a whole series of activity tests over uneven period of time with standard and enhanced rates scored on complicated subjective points systems.
Clearly it will be less responsive than Disability Living Allowance. And those currently on Disability Living Allowance will not automatically get Personal Independence Payment. Nor is it clear can there be an appeal.
We call on the National Disabled Members’ Committee to liaise with the NEC to protest on our behalf by writing to the Government and relevant media against this system and to point out the discrepancies highlighted above.