A Period of Reflection and a Time for Hope

Straight up, this is not a Christmas message!

As I am writing this, we are all in a kind of ‘twilight zone’ of coming to grips with what the United Kingdom (UK) budget means for us all – both individually and as disabled people’s organisations (DPO) – whilst at the same time looking ahead to what the Scottish Government budget might contain next week.

Regardless of your political standpoint, or persuasion, it is really not a good time to be a disabled person in the United Kingdom.

Fourteen years of austerity. Profound cuts to services upon which many disabled people rely. The continuing hangover and impact of Covid for some. An ongoing cost-of-living crisis for disabled people. The removal of the winter fuel payment meaning a cold winter ahead for some. Then more recently proposals to introduce assisted dying.

The UK Government Budget: A Period of Reflection

On 30 October, the Chancellor promised a budget for working people – and to be fair – we can only assume that she meant to include disabled people in that statement.

What we actually experienced was a budget which failed to deliver justice for disabled people in Scotland. The initial hope was that we’d see a change in approach from the new UK Government, how our hope was misdirected.

But these reflections are about more than just a budget. It is also about future directional thinking and what may become a reality at a future date.

Disability Equality Scotland (DES) made representations to both the previous UK Government and the new Secretary of State, concerning the proposed changes to the Work Capability Assessment (WCA). We didn’t hold back. We highlighted that we believed the proposals were cruel, punitive, and ineffective in terms of getting disabled people into work and was a regression on rights to social protections. We believed – and continue to believe – that the proposals will unjustly stigmatise disabled people, leaving them more vulnerable to prejudice, discrimination, and hate crime.

We had robustly highlighted the potential – but very real danger – of suicide and increased hospitalisation, of those with mental health issues, should the WCA proposals be enacted.

Against this stark background, the Chancellor confirmed that the new UK Government would push ahead with the proposed WCA review proposed by the previous government, with around 45,000 disabled people living in Scotland being negatively affected. The choice has been to persist with a “work first” approach, one that has, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, ”largely failed” to reduce poverty.

What makes the UK Government’s choice even more cruel is the fact that the budget included £40bn in tax rises from a government who talk much about the need for social justice.

Furthermore, the budget statement also confirmed that the UK Government would speed up the transition to Universal Credit, so that it’s completed by 2026. The potential impact of this is that disabled people may lose their entitlement to certain legacy benefits and we would seek concrete assurances that disabled people in receipt of Employment Support Allowance (ESA) would not be subject to reassessment as part of the transition.

DES would agree that the Social Security system requires to be reviewed and improved. However, we would propose that the most effective way to achieve this would be by directly involving those with lived experience of the system – disabled people themselves.

In reality however, the UK Government will be targeting benefits claimants via new powers for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Once again, disabled people’s rights appear to be generally ignored when convenient – but this does raise significant concerns surrounding disabled people’s privacy rights.

The UK Government budget also failed to re-introduce the universal winter fuel payments for those eligible. Our own research shows that our members strongly disagree with the decision to scrap this universal payment for older people – including disabled pensioners. The majority of disabled people we spoke to have told us that they have had to choose between keeping their home warm and using their independent living equipment – and that was before the recent drop in temperature and forecasts of snow in Scotland.

But the news did not get any better for disabled people, with the announcement of a freeze in Local Housing Allowance (LHA) and the benefit cap – which will also hit disabled people hard. We know from our own research that:

• 69% of respondents said that they had to use some or all of their savings to pay their mortgage and rent in the last 18 months.
• Others having to choose between putting the heating on and using their independent living equipment.

The UK Government failed to scrap the two-child cap on universal credit, pushing more and more children into poverty. We know that if a household includes a disabled person that they are far more likely to be in poverty. Yet another failure to deliver justice for disabled people in Scotland.

The Chancellor’s changes to fiscal rules on investment mean some more money for public services but for the social care sector the money allocated is little comfort given the employment challenges currently facing the sector. When coupled with current immigration rules, this budget simply fails to alleviate this crisis.

Looking forward, we have significant concerns around the consequences of the tax changes, with the Institute for Fiscal Studies saying that the Chancellor may need to find £9bn of cuts in future to balance the books. The reality is that such cuts would probably directly impact local services and support – which disabled people rely on.

To add balance, the budget did contain some positive measures, such as an increase to the earnings limit for Carers Allowance and we would hope that the Scottish Government will replicate these changes. The increases to the National Living Wage and the steps towards removing the discriminatory age banding in the National Minimum Wage are also welcomed. In addition, we welcome the changes to debt charges for those on universal credit.

Overall however, last month’s UK Government budget falls significantly short of delivering justice for the disabled community across Scotland. The new UK Government’s first budget simply reflects that disabled people are still being forgotten and disenfranchised. But should that surprise us? I wrote to the new Prime Minister the day after he took office and – as I write this article – am still awaiting any acknowledgement or response to my letter. This does not bode well for our new UK Government in terms of listening to the people who matter, the public that voted them into office – including many disabled people.

So, we finished October 2024 with:

• Disabled people having had to endure 14 years of profound cuts to services.
• An uncertain financial future in terms of those impacted by the Work Capability Assessment.
• A future where disabled pensioners may well be colder this coming Winter – with temperatures having already dropped in Scotland and the first snow having fallen.
• An immediate future where disabled people may have to make the decision over whether to eat, or heat their homes, or to use their independence equipment.

Scottish Government Budget: A Time for Hope?

But surely there can be hope?

The Scottish Government will be announcing their budget for 2024/2025, in a week’s time, on Wednesday 4 December.

Calculations arising from the recent UK Government budget indicate that it is likely to result in £1.5bn for the Scottish Government for the current financial year and £3.4bn next year.

However, these numbers exclude the cost implications of the Employer’s National Insurance increase on charities and the third sector which has an essential role in supporting disabled people. This is at a time when disabled people’s organisation’s and the wider third sector’s funding is both challenging and insecure.

We are looking for the Scottish Government to take urgent and bold action, so that disabled people get the essential support to which they are entitled.

For too long now disabled people have been denied basic rights that everyone else takes for granted because:

• The vital support(s) they need are missing.
• Policy incoherence deepens the poverty and inequality that disabled people face.

Despite the ‘Programme for Government’ (2023) commitment to deliver an ‘Immediate Priorities Plan’ to address the cost of living and energy crisis of winter 2023 and the ‘Programme for Government’ (2024) promising to deliver on a Disability Equality Plan – which would ensure the voices of disabled people would be at the centre of policy and decision-making – disabled people are still waiting. No actions have yet been taken. No commitment to meaningful action has been made. There is no progress towards disabled people’s equality.

The First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance will recall the recent #DisabledPeopleDeserveJustice campaign and its associated demands:

1. To increase investment in the Advice in Accessible Settings Fund to enable a focus on the accessibility of existing projects providing welfare rights and debt information and support.
2. To invest in Social Care and Scrap Social Care Charges including charges applied to recipients of the Independent Living Fund.
3. To invest in and protect funding for Disabled People’s Organisations.

Next Wednesday, the Scottish Government has the ability to send a strong, inclusive message to the disabled community through a budget focused on disabled people:

• To meet the demands of the #DisabledPeopleDemandJustice campaign.
• To publish a strong and bold Disability Equality Plan for Scotland.

It really is a straightforward question for the First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance – what are your priorities?

Disabled people need a National Care Service and fundamental reforms – including financial support – for what are broken systems.

The most important voice is that of the disabled person. So, we asked our members what one thing that the Scottish Government could announce in their budget on 4 December 2024 that would help disabled people.

We shared this question widely via social media and with our partners and the top three responses received were:

• To bring back the winter heating allowance as a universal benefit. This should also include a top-up to meet running costs for independent living equipment.
• To remove care charges and increase funding for social care.
• To increase disability benefits to help disabled people survive. Members also believe that the system needs to be reformed to make it easier to apply and that rates paid in social security payments to disabled people need to be increased to a level to mitigate years of spending cuts.

In responding to our question, our members also highlighted that:

• “With the Government cuts to winter payments I think consideration should have been given to the fact that Scotland has much colder weather than England.“
• “To restore the winter fuel payment. so vital to housebound disabled people.”
• “Help when you need to see a consultant. I have been waiting over a year. It is disgusting!”
• “[My Local] Council are now charging people to get the support they need to live independently and it is not a small amount. This with the tiny amount of money we get to meet the costs of disability just does not add up.”
• “Accessing adult disability and access to work – a speedier process at entry and change of circumstances.”
• “Life changes in an instant but social services / striving for independent living funding can take months or years to process and communicate.”
• “Stop making it so difficult for disabled people to claim the benefits that they are entitled to and why do they have to keep applying if they have lifetime conditions?”
• “Disabled people need support to navigate what has become a confusing set of benefits. Disability benefits in my opinion, should be made clear.”
• “There are no longer social workers or supporters available to help these people. They rely on volunteers like myself.”

So, after the UK Government budget in October, is there hope for disabled people in Scotland? With the Scottish Government announcing its budget for 2024/2025 on Wednesday 4 December – we can but hope!

Disability Equality Scotland, our members and other disabled people’s organisations are looking for the Scottish Government to take urgent and bold action, so that disabled people get the essential support to which they are entitled.

Lyn Pornaro
Chief Executive Officer
Disability Equality Scotland