BURSTMPs are due to vote on cutting disability and sickness benefits worth around £5bn but number of Labour MPs signing amendment is growing
Debbie Abrahams, the Labour chair of the work and pensions committee, cited research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation welfare thinktank when she asked Stephen Timms about concerns that there were not enough jobs for disabled people. (See 9.59am.) She was referring a press release the JFR issued yesterday.
The JRF said:
For the first time, JRF combined the number of people who will be affected by the upcoming cuts to health-related universal credit (UC) with the number of people already required to look for work as a condition of claiming UC. We compared this to the number of available jobs in each local authority in Great Britain.
The analysis found that the parts of the country among the hardest hit by the cuts have fewer job opportunities.
That means people on disability benefits who live in places with high numbers of those out of work will have the greatest challenge in finding a job, undermining the government’s wish to drive up employment amongst disabled people.
Cutting disabled people’s benefits won’t magically create suitable jobs, particularly in those parts of the country that have long had weaker jobs markets. It’s little wonder so many disabled people are fearful of the impact of the government’s cuts.
As MPs gear up to debate the government’s cuts, we urge the government to change course by protecting disabled people from the harm that these cuts will cause and offering a real plan to create good quality jobs across the country.
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