Transcript Disability and universal credit Evidence session Wednesday 11th July Introduction • Issues and scenarios – Child disability addition – No equiv of severe disability premium –

Disability and universal credit
Evidence session Wednesday 11th July
Introduction
•
Issues and scenarios
– Child disability addition
– No equiv of severe disability premium
– No equiv of disability element of WTC if fit for work
•
About the review – read more scenarios and complete survey at
http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/universalcredit
Child Disability Additions
•
Support for children with disabilities are to be substantially cut
under Universal Credit, through replacement of the disability
element of child tax credit with a “disability addition” for a child.
•
The money is being moved into a substantial increase in the
support component of ESA for disabled adults.
•
Changes could cost parents of disabled children up to around
£1400 per year.
•
This could amount to substantially more than £22,000 over the
childhood of a disabled child, (for a family with two disabled
children this loss could be more than £44,000.)
•
The Government estimates that 100,000 children could be
affected by this change.
Child disability addition
Parents of children who are not entitled to the highest rate of disability addition
Will be worse
off if:
Will be better
off despite the
cut if:
They cant
work
They can only
work with
high childcare
costs
They can work
without
incurring
childcare costs
Households who are unable to work or can only
work with high childcare costs will be worse off
Severe Disability Premium
•
SDP gives additional support to disabled adults with no other adult
to provide care for them. helps to cover the additional costs of
living with a disability but no carer.
•
The Government is abolishing the Severe Disability Premium
through the introduction of the Universal Credit.
•
This will cost families up to £58 per week (over £3000 per year).
This cut could be equivalent to 20% of household income after
housing costs.
•
There is particular concern that disabled Lone Parents will lose this
support so children will have to take on even greater caring
responsibilities. Around 25,000 Lone Parents with disabled
children receive the SDP.
No equivalent of severe disability premium –
severely disabled adults who live on their own will be worse off
Severely disabled people in the support group:
Will be worse
off if:
They live on
their own and
don’t have a
carer
if they live with a
child but no
other adult
if they live with
another severely
disabled adult
Will be better off if:
They live with a
partner or have
a carer (when
savings allow)
They live with a
partner who
works
Children who are carers – loss of £58 addition to basic
amount
Adults caring and working fulltime – gain of £33 to
basic amount
Disability element of Working Tax Credit
•
Currently, additional support for disabled adults who are in work is
provided through the “disability element” of Working Tax Credit
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This support is currently worth an additional £54 per week and
recognises additional costs of work for people with a disability
•
116,000 families with disability element WTC
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No additional help within Universal Credit for those with
disabilities who are found fit for work.
No equivalent of disability element of WTC if fit for work
Disabled people who are found fit for work will get no extra help. This will
include for example:
Someone who
can self propel a
wheelchair 50
metres
Someone who is
able to do some
work but not
work fulltime
because of
fatigue caused by
a condition such
as MS
Disabled people found fit for work will get no more
extra help than someone who is not disabled