Maybe more Tory cuts on ESA £30

CharlieBilly

The government is thinking of drastically cutting back its safety net for people who develop a serious illness or disability. [1]

Leaked documents reveal the Department of Work and Pensions is proposing to cut £30 a week from people on sickness benefits. These cuts could push people trying to recover from serious illness into debt. [2]

The leaked plans have been splashed all over the news. Now a huge outcry to the minister in charge could mean he has to publically disown the plans and stop the cuts becoming policy. 38 Degrees member Alan has started a petition to minister Iain Duncan Smith, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, to disown these plans and stop them in their tracks.

If you agree with Alan that sick people and people living with disabilities should be supported properly, please sign his petition here:

Petition

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/don-t-cut-sickness-benefit

KxMx

Applied to ESA WRAG that would bring it on par with JSA then, which i've long suspected the Tories want to do.

I could maybe stomach it if it was applied to short term ESA WRAG claimants. My award was for 2 years so why should I be treated like a job seeker when i'm only in the group by default and with such a long prognosis before a reassessment is deemed necessary? When my GP has agreed I am unfit for work and I have passed the ESA assessment?

Being in the WRAG means you are not currently fit for work but you may be in the future.

So why should I be treated like a fit and able job seeker? I'm neither!

Not even ESA support group are safe, the proposed benefits freeze will also apply to them I have heard.

Indie_Kid

They seem to be treating those in WRAG as JSA claimants more and more now.

[Deleted User]

downing st has denied this,seems like one of those they run a flag pole and see how it flutters

rogerblack

Long-term - 2020? I would be surprised if PIP and claiming UC on sickness grounds were to remain possible.
It seems likely from a 'economy' point of view, at the very least there is one test to determine eligibility to an extra 'PIP' premium paid on top of UC.

They will boost the amount paid on this premium by 10%, say 'it's targetted at the most severely ill, and cut eligibility by 30%.

With of course the obvious problem of now having no income at all for extended periods if you fail the test.