A Scottish anti-poverty charity has accused the UK government of lacking compassion and understanding of people with disabilities and claims the humanity of the benefits system “has been hollowed out and replaced with a regressive cynicism which is eroding people’s dignity and crushing their spirit.”
The Poverty Truth Commission (PTC), set up by Faith in Community Scotland, also claimed rape victims are being forced to repeatedly relive their harrowing ordeal, in order to qualify for benefits.
The claims come just days after a UN-appointed special rapporteur on extreme poverty, Philip Alston, condemned UK austerity policies as “punitive, mean-spirited, and ... callous.”
New Minister for Work and Pensions Amber Rudd yesterday hit back at Mr Alston, saying his criticisms were excessively political and claiming his language was “wholly inappropriate”.
But the new report from the PTC says the welfare system has become dehumanising and unfair. The charity brings commissioners together from a range of backgrounds, to share their direct experiences of hardship and deprivation, or of working with people who are poor. They include representatives from churches, communities, universities, local authorities and the Scottish Government.
The report, Stories from the Benefits Front Line focuses on the assessment process for people claiming disability benefits and their families, and the two child cap, including the so-called ‘rape clause’.
This limits the number of children for which a family can claim Universal Credit and tax credits – but the limit can be disregarded if a mother can show that one or more of her children was conceived as a result of rape. The PTC report quotes cases of people affected by the clause, those who have attempted to claim disability benefit and those who have been affected by the benefits cap.
It argues the families of children with disabilities are being subjected to “a soul-destroying bureaucratic gauntlet” when their children graduate to adult services, and criticises DWP staff for errors and unnecessarily suspicious and interrogative approaches to claimants.
“The general feeling expressed by victims of government cuts to benefits is that they are discriminatory, prejudiced and contain no compassion or understanding for the multidimensional nature of disability and illness,” the report says.
Barbara Symonds, whose son James has complex learning disabilities and autism, has been looking after him since he was diagnosed aged three. Now 19, he will need one-to-one care for the rest of his life.
But when she applied for Employment and Support Allowance when he turned 18, his child benefit and her tax credits were stopped, while they endured a 13 week assessment period with no income, she says.
“I knew he would receive a full award because of the nature of his disabilities,” Ms Symonds said. “But the Government saved nearly £700 during that period and did not backdate his payments.
“It took hours of phone calls - which you pay for while you are on hold. I had to gather evidence and reports myself, even though the DWP had the information. I can’t hear Vivaldi now without twitching.
“They did not pay a supplement James should have been entitled to, and the person in the Job Centre didn’t seem to know about it. I felt as if I was having to justify my son’s existence.”
Jacky Stockdale, a PTC commissioner, said the two-child cap was forcing women into poverty and impossible choices: “We found that the system is effectively castigating women who are on low incomes and pregnant with their third or subsequent child, threatening them with crippling poverty if they continue with their pregnancies... condemning whole families to poverty and hardship.”
The PTC is calling for an end to the benefit freeze, the abolition of the entire two child policy and a major reduction in the 13 week assessment period for ESA. It also says government needs a more holistic understanding of disability.
A UK Government spokesperson said:
“We are absolutely committed to helping people improve their lives while providing the right support for those who need it.
“Universal Credit is supporting people into work faster, and since 2010 we have seen a record low number of children living in workless households and one million fewer people living in absolute poverty. But we are listening to feedback and have made numerous improvements to the system,” she said.
“In addition, in Scotland, we are delivering flexibilities in Universal Credit payments behalf of the Scottish Government, where people can choose to be paid twice monthly or to have rent paid directly to their landlord. Meanwhile, Scotland has the power to top-up existing benefits, pay discretionary payments and create entirely new benefits altogether.”
Barbara and James are pseudonyms
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