Plaid Cymru urges UK Government’s to increase ‘pitiful’ cost of living support for disabled people
Plaid Cymru has described the UK Government’s cost of living payment for disabled people as “pitiful” and called for support to be increased to reflect “the extra costs they face in daily life”.
People in receipt of disability benefits such as the Personal Independence Payment and the Disability Living Allowance are currently only eligible for £150.
People in receipt of other benefits are eligible for a £650 Cost of Living Payment.
Plaid Cymru say that, given the higher level of energy use by disabled people, the eligibility criteria for the £650 payment should be revised to include those in receipt of disability benefits.
In a letter to Work & Pensions Secretary, Thérèse Coffey and Chancellor of the Exchequer, Nadim Zahawi, Plaid Cymru’s Work and Pensions spokesperson, Hywel Williams and Treasury spokesperson, Ben Lake wrote: “People in receipt of disability benefits such as the Personal Independence Payment and the Disability Living Allowance are only eligible for the pitiful sum of £150.
“Many disabled people require a higher level of energy use than the average household due to relying on life-saving equipment such as wheelchairs and ventilators. Many also suffer from conditions that requires staying warm and frequently washing clothes and bedding.
“Using less energy is simply not an option for many disabled people.
“People receiving New Style Employment and Support Allowance, contributory Employment and Support Allowance, or New Style Jobseeker’s Allowance, are also excluded from the Cost of Living Payment.
“There is no justification for this decision by the Government. We therefore call on you to urgently revise the eligibility criteria for this payment and ensure that disabled people receive a cost-of-living payment which reflects the extra costs they face in daily life and the impact of the energy crisis.
“Failing to do so would mean sitting on your hands while disabled people struggle to choose between eating or continuing to use life-saving equipment.”
Concerning
Alexandra Osborne of Disability Wales supported the calls and said: “The increasing cost of energy in the UK is very concerning to us. Disabled people often need to use more energy in their homes than non-disabled, they may also be unable to regulate their body temperature and require heating to be on constantly.
“This can be to charge required equipment such as electric wheelchairs and oxygen machines.
“Many disabled people are already cutting back on their energy use where they can, however they are very worried how they will manage to pay their bills after the next energy cap increase. We’ve had reports of disabled people reducing the time heating is on which is having a negative effect on the disabled person as their impairments or health conditions worsen in cold homes.
“We feel disabled people should receive a cost of living payment to reflect the extra costs disabled people face in daily life and the impact of the energy crisis.”
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If governments are unable or unwilling to engage in short/medium term interventions to supress the costs of energy, foods and other key essentials then they should take their Index and use it to fully support all benefits whether employed or not. In addition there should be regular additional payments to reflect the seasonal surge in keeping warm and able to cook food. Also there are 100,000’s of people who were “just about managing” who need hefty doses of assistance in dealing with those utility bills as the DDM’s are already being cranked up by the profiteers. Oddly enough about the… Read more »
It is only the needy who need affordable assistance- hand outs to everyone only accentuate and perpetuate poverty.
And then those just the other side of the threshold get jealous and start scapegoating those who DO get assistance.
The ACTUAL solution would be for a competent government to actually take action. But then a competent Wasteminster government would not have got us here as the 2nd worst performing economy in Europe after heavily sanctioned Russia, in the first place!
Sham on everyone who voted for Brexit and repeatedly for the Tory Tea Party. you brought this on us
Very admirable by Plaid Cymru, but the Conservatives won’t listen. They only care about lowering taxes of the obese rich. They despise the poor. Abhor the working classes. So why help the suffering disabled.
A quote from Charles Dickens , A Christmas Carol, comes to mind which is apt.
Scrooge: ‘If they would rather die, they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.’
If Wales generates so much electricity with all the wind turbines and solar farms. WHY should the cost of electricity be increasing at such a pace?
Nice strawman there