Potential DLA legal challenge – Disability Alliance UK (United Kingdom)

 UPDATED WITH BBC VIDEO – Watch from 1 mins 48 secs

You may have heard that Disability Alliance might be taking legal action against the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) over some Government welfare plans. Our legal advisors, Unity Law, have examined Government plans and believe there is a very credible case.

Disability Alliance is especially concerned over plans to abolish Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for working age people (defined as 16-64 years of age by DWP) and introduce a new benefit (Personal Independence Payment – PIP) which will have a £2.17 billion lower budget by 2015. PIP will not provide an equivalent level of support for the 652,000 disabled people currently receiving low rate care DLA payments.

We have raised our concerns with DWP over the last year, since plans were announced in June 2010. We have ensured our member organisations’ views and those of the disabled people we have surveyed have been communicated to DWP. We have aired concerns in meetings, briefings, a consultation and evidence to two parliamentary committees. Over 5,500 organisations and people responded to the Government consultation on DLA reform. But concerns have sadly gone unanswered and the Government have made no changes to plans to reflect the level of anxiety disabled people and organisations like Disability Alliance have communicated.

Potential DLA legal challenge – Disability Alliance UK (United Kingdom)

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