1 March 2012

MPs and peers warn of cumulative impact of Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence payments (DLA/PIP) reforms on disabled people.

What: The joint committee on human rights, in a report on the implementation of the right of disabled people to independent living in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, finds that replacing DLA with PIP – along with restrictions in local authority eligibility criteria for social care support, closing the Independent Living Fund and changes to housing benefit – risked “interacting in a particularly harmful way for disabled people”.

Why significant: The government has previously refused to conduct an assessment of the cumulative impact of its reforms on disabled people so this is important parliamentary recognition of the likely cumulative harm of cuts and reforms.