Press Release issued: 11 May 2011.
Blind and partially sighted people face 'disastrous' cuts to their income if Government plans to slash up to £18 billion from welfare go ahead, the Royal National Institute of Blind People Scotland is warning.
The cuts, says the charity, could deprive thousands of their entitlement to help with vital homecare and transport, and force others to undergo flawed medical assessments that don't adequately recognise the barriers people with sight loss experience.
Today, Scots with sight loss will take part in what is expected to be one of the biggest ever protests at Westminster by people with disabilities. Over 5,000 are expected to converge on the Houses of Parliament before lobbying their MPs.
The protest - organised by the UK Disabled People's Council and the Disability Benefits Consortium - are bringing together over 40 organisations and charities from across the country.
As part of its deficit reduction strategy, the Government wants to cut £18 billion from welfare spending to help it save £81 billion by 2015. But RNIB Scotland argues this will disproportionately affect the chances of people with disabilities, including sight loss, to lead independent lives.
It says blind and partially sighted people's incomes are at risk because the Government is tightening up benefits so they are received by fewer people, in some cases for a shorter time. Up to a third of those who claim Incapacity Benefit could be denied Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), which is replacing it, because the new assessment procedures fail to properly assess visual impairment.
Meanwhile, the removal of the mobility component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) from residents in local authority-funded care homes will isolate some of the most vulnerable people, says RNIB Scotland. Residents commonly use this payment to see friends and family by using taxi services or a Motability vehicle.
All benefits will in future be uprated in line with the Consumer Price Index rather than the Retail Price Index, so many people's incomes will no longer keep up with the real cost of living.
As well as this, cuts to public services mean the support people once relied on will be withdrawn or rationed, entitling only those with the most severe disabilities to help. Scotland's overall budget is forecast to shrink by £3.7 billion over the next four years, and already local authorities are facing a cut of at least 2.6 per cent this financial year.
Inverness man Rod Murchison (63), a former planning officer with Highland Council, is joining today's Westminster protest. Rod, who has no peripheral vision and is registered blind, has already had experience of how flawed the official medical assessment can be. "The system clearly is not set up to accurately assess someone's level of useful vision," he says. "When I was examined they didn't even have eye-charts." Rod appealed against the assessors' decision and had his benefit immediately reinstated.
"If this is how the income of people with disabilities is going to be decided, then God help us! I am going on the march today because I am very aggrieved that people could be treated in this way."
Terry Robinson (60) of Glasgow is also worried the Disability Living Allowance he currently receives may be affected by the changes. "It's actually of value to enable individuals to take part in the economy and society, rather than let them languish in isolation," he says. "That's why I am going on this march. I hope to lobby my MP and explain my feelings on this issue."
Amanda Burt (41) of Aberdeen has always been totally blind because her optic nerve never developed. She currently receives Disability Living Allowance and Income Support. "I am very worried that these benefits might be affected, not just for me but for other people with a disability," she says. "People could find themselves in dire financial straits; their lives could end up in turmoil. That's why I am taking part in this march at Westminster."
John Legg, director of RNIB Scotland, said: "Unamended, the measures contained in the Welfare Reform Bill represent a major threat to blind and partially sighted people's incomes and independence. They are facing the disastrous prospect of vital financial support being removed just when so many other public services are being rationed or cut.
"The purpose of disability benefits like DLA is to assist people with the extra costs associated of living with a disability, while out-of-work benefits like ESA are designed to help unemployed people achieve a decent standard of living whilst they prepare for work. But the changes being proposed to these, far from tackling worklessness and reducing dependency, risk intensifying these problems."