dignity opportunity for all - easy read

8/12/2019 Dignity Opportunity for All - Easy Read

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Dignity and opportunity for all:securing the rights of disabled

people in the austerity era

just fair


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Introduction

2. The Government haspromised that disabledpeople have the right to work

and be treated well at work

1. The Government haspromised that disabledpeople have the right tochoose where they live andwho they live with

The Government must makesure things for disabledpeople get better and notworse in their daily lives.

Even though the Governmentis spending less money itmust still look after disabledpeople.

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Some people have said theyare worried the Governmentis not keeping its promises.

The report will look at thesein more detail.

4. The Government haspromised that disabledpeople have the right tobenets to help them pay forwhat they need

3. The Government haspromised that disabledpeople have the right to haveenough money for importantthings like food and clothes

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3. They are worried aboutpeople losing some oftheir benet because theGovernment says they have

too many bedrooms. Somecall this the bedroom tax.

2. They are worried aboutPersonal IndependencePayment (PIP) which helpswith disabled peoples costs.

1. They are worried aboutEmployment and SupportAllowance (ESA), which helpspeople who cannot work,and the Work CapabilityAssessment.

A survey by Just Fair askeddisabled people about theirlives. The results of the surveyshowed disabled peopleare worried mainly about 3things:

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1. The right to choose

where you live andwho you live with

Changes to housing benetscould mean disabled peoplecannot afford houses thatare right for their needs.

Disabled people often needextra space for equipment ora carer.

But some of the changesmade by the Governmenthave made it harder fordisabled people to live wherethey want to live.

In 2012 a group of MPs andpeople from the House ofLords wrote about disabledpeoples right to choosewhere they live and whothey live with. It said that theGovernment has got better athelping people do this.

Changes to Housing Benet

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The group of MPs and peoplefrom the House of Lordswere worried because theGovernment said there wouldbe less money for PIP.

Disability Living Allowance[DLA] helps disabled peoplelive an independent life. TheGovernment said it wouldget rid of DLA and replace itwith Personal Independence

Payment [PIP].

We think the Governmentshould think again aboutthese changes. The changesbreak some of their promises.They make things moredifcult for disabled people.

Changes to Disability Living Allowance [DLA]

? ? ?

The bedroom tax couldmean disabled people have topay more money or move to

a smaller house. It could behard to move to somewheresmaller or to have someonerent the other room.


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The Government said itwould close the ILF and give

the money to local councilsinstead.

The Independent LivingFund [ILF] helps peopleemploy assistants and live an

independent life.

We think the Governmentshould think again at howchanges to benets haveaffected disabled people.

Closing Independent Living Fund [ILF]

? ? ?

Some disabled people willget more money. But for lotsof disabled people it will beharder to get PIP. This couldmake it harder for disabledpeople to get benets to helpthem at home or to travelaround.


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More people need care andsupport but the Governmentis spending less money on

social care.

We think it is importantthat local councils are givenenough money to makesure disabled people canchoose where they live andwho they live with.

The Government will closethe ILF in 2015.

Less money for social care

The group of MPs and peoplefrom the House of Lords wereworried because researchhas shown disabled peoplewill get less money once ILFcloses.


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Lots of disabled people needsupport from health, care andbenets. The Governmenthas made big changes to allof them.

We think the Governmentshould provide enoughcare and support to helpdisabled people live wherethey want to live.

There will be a new set oflaws called the Care Act.MPs and people from theHouse of Lords hope this willgive disabled people the careand support they need.

All the changes together

This means some disabledpeople do not get the

support they need or only getbasic care and support.


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We want the promises theUK has made with the restof the world to be a partof UK law. That way theGovernment would have tokeep their promise of makingsure disabled people canchoose where they live andwho they live with.

Our research shows it isharder for disabled people tolive independent lives.

We think the Governmentneeds to do research onhow all these changes affectdisabled people. They need tomake sure things do not getworse for disabled people.


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Disabled people should beable to work. If they cannotwork they should be able torely on benets.

Work benets have changeda lot. To get benets, somedisabled people have to lookfor work and take any jobeven if it isn't the right

job for them.

The United Nations [UN] hassaid the UK should do moreto help people with learningdisabilities and disabledwomen get jobs.

2. The right to work

and be treated wellat work


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Supported Employment isreally good at helping peoplewith learning disabilities into

jobs. Individual Placement andSupport is really good at helpingpeople with mental health

needs into jobs. The report saysthe Government should spendmoney on these programmesinstead of the Work Programme

The Work Choice Programmehas helped more disabledpeople but not all can get onit. Access to Work has helpedlots of disabled people butnot all know about it.

Some people think theGovernment should spendtheir money on other things.

The Government is spendinga lot of money on Welfareto Work Programmes. The

Work Programme has nothelped many disabled peopleget jobs.

A c c e s s

t o W

o r k

W o r k

C h o i c e


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The Government needs tohelp more disabled peoplend jobs. They need to makesure disabled people arenot discriminated against ortreated badly.

Research shows people withdisabilities are often treatedbadly at work.

The UK needs to be better athelping disabled people gainskills and get qualications.


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It is good that theGovernment gives disabledpeople extra benets. But itis getting harder for disabledpeople to get these benets.

The United Nations [UN] hassaid the UK is good at tryingto stop discrimination againstdisabled people.

The promises the UK

Government have made saydisabled people have theright to a good life. They alsosay disabled people have theright to be as healthy andsafe as everyone else.

3. The right to agood life


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Lots of people are worriedthat disabled people havebeen assessed wrongly and

told they can work whenthey cannot.

If people are too disabledor too sick to work theyget Employment SupportAllowance [ESA]. People haveto have a Work CapabilityAssessment [WCA] to see ifthey can get ESA.

If the UK Government doesnot help disabled people whocannot work, it is not keepingits promises to help disabledpeople.

Employment Support Allowance [ESA] andWork Capability Assessment [WCA]

Some organisations inEurope have said the

amount of money the UKGovernment gives disabledpeople is very low.


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Some people think theGovernment should spendtheir money on other things.

Lots of people have appealed.There are long waits to ndout if they have won. This isall very stressful and costs theGovernment a lot of money.

This may mean they will notbe able to afford basic things.We think this breaks the UKspromises.

Some disabled people onlyget ESA if they do a work-

related activity. If they donot do some things they mayhave their benet stopped.


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We think the Governmentshould have a national planfor advice and support. Wethink disabled people should

get more support to apply forbenets.

This will affect disabledpeople more than non-disabled people. It couldmean disabled people have aworse life.

Cuts have meant there is lessmoney for advice services. Itis now harder to get help andadvice about benets.

Less advice services

We think ESA and WCAshould be changed.They should be better atsupporting disabled people.


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We think the Governmentshould keep its promises and

support disabled people.

Some peoples benets arebeing stopped because theydo not understand what theyneed to do. This is not fair.

Research shows that disabledpeople are really struggling.Some cannot even affordbasic things such as food andheat.

Research shows that more

adults and families arebecoming poor.

Risk of being poor


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Disabled people shouldhave the same choices andchances in life as everyoneelse.

The Government shouldchange the way it spendsits money to make sure itkeeps its promises to disabledpeople.

Too much money has beenspent on assessments, onwrong decisions and onsupport that does not work.

The Government has spent alot of money on benets. Wethink the money has beenspent on the wrong things.


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We have not told youeverything in the report.This is only the main points.

This has been translated by UR Consultants, a group of people with learning disabilitiessupported by United Response. With thanks to Photosymbols. Content does notnecessarily reect the views of United Response. Produced July 2014.

This report was authored by Jane Young. Aoife Nolan authoredChapter 2 and provided input throughout the report. NeilCrowther provided advice and support. We are extremelygrateful to the organisations that provide funding for ourvital monitoring and advocacy work: Barrow Cadbury Trust,

Clifford Chance Foundation, Henry Tinsley Foundation, JosephRowntree Charitable Trust, Network for Social Change. ManyConsortium members contributed to this report by identifyingpriority issues, providing data, and contributing qualitativeevidence. We are particularly grateful to the Just Fair Trusteesfor providing expert advice and detailed editorial guidance.This report was published in July 2014.

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