MPs and charity campaigners are calling for a second £150 disability cost of living payment for those on benefits including Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Attendance Allowance. The Government was told this week to "reinstate" the extra amount after one MP claimed it had been set to go ahead and then "quietly dropped."
Disabled people have this year had one payment of £150 whereas those on means-tested benefits such as Universal Credit and ESA (Employment and Support Allowance) are receiving six times as much, with a £900 package spread across three instalments. The final part will be £299 paid in February.
In November, we reported on a plea from National Energy Action for additional financial support. The fuel poverty organisation said: "Households with disabilities and medical conditions are very vulnerable to the impacts of the energy crisis. They often need to use much more energy than the typical household due to needing to spend more time at home, needing to live in a warmer home to stay healthy, or needing to power high-demand medical equipment (such as dialysis machines). NEA believes that because of this, households in receipt of DLA and PIP should receive the full £900 cost of living payment." This would cost in the region of £4.5 billion, it calculated.
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In a debate in Parliament on December 18, the notion of an extra cost of living payment for disabled people was brought up again. Richard Burgon, Labour MP for Leeds East, said: "It is absolutely heartbreaking that in the world's sixth-richest country we now have four million people living in destitution. We know that disabled people are more likely to live in poverty, yet this winter disabled people will not be getting any additional help with the cost of living after the separate disability cost of living payment was quietly dropped."
"The cost of living for disabled people is still going up, so will the Secretary of State commit to reinstating the payment, and at a level that meets the extra living costs faced by disabled people?"
Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride responded: "I am not sure precisely which disability payment the hon. Gentleman is referring to, but certainly the cost of living disability payment has been paid this year, in addition to the increase in the national living wage, tax cuts and national insurance tax cuts, all of which help people, particularly those on low pay. That is why, under this Government, the level of absolute poverty has fallen by 1.7 million since 2010, with 400,000 fewer children in poverty."
What have charities and MPs said about a second payment?
MPs on the Work and Pensions Committee say the disability payment did not provide "a suitable level of support" and have asked the Government to boost the amount if any similar payments are approved in the future. The disability equality charity Scope told the committee that a household with at least one disabled adult or child needs an additional £975 a month to have the same standard of living as a non-disabled household, and on average the extra cost of disability is equivalent to 63 per cent of household income after housing costs.
Mencap said that the "flat-rate nature of the £900 cost of living payments and the low-figure sum of the £150 disability cost of living payment do not adequately account for the disproportionately high extra costs that disabled people face." Maddy Rose, representing Mencap, said: "£150 has been inadequate. It has effectively just replaced the Warm Home Discount payment that many disabled people received and are now ineligible for since 290,000 were removed from that scheme."
She went on to say that it was "equivalent to £2.88 per week, which is clearly not commensurate with the need" especially given the extra costs those with a disability face as they often require specific foods or have "significantly increased" energy bills.
Ed Hodson, an independent researcher with 12 years' experience at Citizens Advice, observed that the disability payment looked “like one-off token charity awards to those the Government of the day have identified as 'deserving poor' rather than any real attempt to address actual ongoing cost-of-living financial pressures."
The Work and Pension Committee conducted a survey which found that 17.5 per cent of people who received cost of living support had only had the £150 disability payment and no other help. Louise Rubin, head of policy at disability equality charity Scope, said: "We back the committee's call that there needs to be more cost-of-living support for disabled people this winter. We're hearing from disabled people who can’t afford to power vital equipment, face excruciating bills and don't know which way to turn."
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Sir Stephen Timms, chair of the Work and Pensions Committee, said: "While the support payments have made an important impact in helping those most in need during these difficult times, the overall package has offered just a short-term reprieve for many, while others have slipped through the safety net altogether.
"Families with children need support over and above the flat rate on offer while the extra £150 a year paid to those with disabilities, who incur unavoidable extra expenses, barely touches the sides.
"There are also low-income households receiving only housing benefit currently deemed ineligible for the extra help, while some eligible people with no recourse to public funds are being denied access to the household support fund because of unclear guidance to councils. It is vital that the Government listens to those with everyday experience of support payments so it learns important lessons should a new package of support be required in the future."
Disabled adults who are renters, single-parent households, and black and Asian households are among the groups of people more likely to run into financial difficulty, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has found. About 54 per cent of renters do not think they will be able to save any money in the next 12 months amid the tougher economic climate, with prices continuing to climb.
It is far higher than the 39 per cent across the general population. The figure leaps to 63 per cent among disabled adults who are renting, according to the ONS analysis.
Who has had the £150 disability cost of living payment?
The nine different benefits that were eligible for the £150 disability cost of living payment given out earlier this year are:
- Attendance Allowance
- Constant Attendance Allowance
- Disability Living Allowance for adults
- Disability Living Allowance for children
- Personal Independence Payment
- Adult Disability Payment (in Scotland)
- Child Disability Payment (in Scotland)
- Armed Forces Independence Payment
- War Pension Mobility Supplement
The £150 payment was sent into accounts between June 20 and July 4. Some received it later if they had been missed in the initial rollout or if they only later became eligible with a new benefit claim that was backdated.
What has the Government said?
No plans for a second £150 payment have been mentioned or announced by the Government, which has indicated that many of those who had the first sum given out earlier this year were also eligible for other support.
Katy Roberts, Deputy Director of Poverty Strategy at the DWP, told MPs that "85 per cent of people who get that £150 cost of living disability payment will also be receiving either the means-tested or the pensioner payment." The new Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work, Mims Davies, added: "If you are disabled, you would be entitled to various interventions accordingly, so the extra amount wouldn't just be the £150."
A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said: "The cost of living payments have provided a significant financial boost to millions of households – just one part of the record £94 billion support package we have provided to help with the rising cost of bills.
"This includes a 10.1 per cent rise to benefits earlier this year, and we’re investing £3.5 billion to help thousands into jobs – the best way to secure their financial security in the long-term. Ultimately, the best way we can help families is to reduce inflation, and we’re sticking to our plan to halve it this year, taking the long-term decisions that will secure the country’s financial future."
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