Richmond AID Press Release
Date released 17th March 2016
Press contact: Lucy Byrne, Chief Executive, Richmond AID [email protected] 020 8831 6077
Press Release
London Mayoral candidate has resigned as patron of disability charity after voting to cut benefits
Richmond AID, a charity run by and for disabled people in West London (1), has called on London Mayoral candidate and local MP Zac Goldsmith to resign his position as patron following a controversial vote in the House of Commons to cut disability benefits by thirty pounds a week (2).
Richmond AID recently wrote to Patron MP Zac Goldsmith with regard to his recent decision to vote for cuts to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and can confirm that MP Zac Goldsmith has now stepped down as a patron.
Richmond AID believe these cuts are in direct conflict with the social model ethos we embody at Richmond AID. The cuts do not recognise the well documented additional costs of living with a disability.
Moreover, this punitive measure follows a medical model approach which considers the individual disabled person and their motivations to be the reason they are not in work. We therefore feel it is inappropriate for MP Zac Goldsmith to remain as patron and have requested that he step down with immediate effect.
The vote for cuts to ESA was carried by the government despite two rebellions in the House of Lords (3) and warnings from disability charities that the proposed cut to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) would make it more difficult for disabled people to find work and that many struggled to afford food on the benefit at its current level (4).
The measure will impact on Disabled people in the ESA Work Related Activity Group (WRAG) who have been found not fit for work including those with deteriorating conditions such as cancer, Parkinson’s and MS. Around half of the 492,180 disabled people currently within the WRAG have ‘Mental and Behavioural Disorders’ (248,040) which include those with mental health problems, learning disabilities and autism.
One disabled Richmond resident applied for ESA in 2010 but was declined and put on the assessment rate which is similar to the proposed new amount people will have to live on with the cut. The client approached Richmond for help in 2013 and we took on the case and finally resolved the issue in 2015. During this period the client fell into debt and Richmond AID supported the client by issuing food vouchers and charitable grants to help him survive financially. He had to borrow money from friends to get by and they brought him around blankets as he didn’t have money for heating.
Another Richmond AID client with a learning disability is ‘desperate’ to find work. They were on ESA WRAG but are now on Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) and have fallen behind on gas, water and electric bills. Richmond AID has recently helped this client with a grant for food and they did not have enough to eat. In the past Richmond AID were able to support this client with a part-time cleaning job but currently the client is unable to afford the bus fare to come to job club. ‘I get a bit down and depressed, I just want to get out and about and find a job. It could be my speech or language, people just don’t give you a chance’, the Richmond AID client explained.
Lucy Byrne, Chief Executive of Richmond AID said: ‘Richmond AID believe that the cuts to ESA which are due to be implemented on 1st April 2017 will have a severe and detrimental impact on the lives of disabled people and will make it more difficult for people to find work. It must be recognised that being a disabled person means higher general living expenses, for example to keep warm, to travel to get to activities and to participate in the community and travel to medical appointments. For people who are close to getting back to the workplace add to that the cost of taxis to interviews, smart clothes for work and internet access. We believe this cut moves disabled people further away from the workplace and increases the social isolation of people who are already vulnerable and already experience barriers in getting employment. We are shocked and disappointed to find that both our local MPs here in the borough of Richmond voted for this cut, one of whom is patron of our organisation. Having voted for this brutal cut we believe that Zac Goldsmith’s position as patron is no longer tenable.”
Notes to Editors:
1) Insert anything else you want to say about Richmond AID.
2) A review by independent peers Lord Low, Baroness Grey-Thompson and Baroness Meacher concluded that the Government should not push ahead with the cut and instead put in place better support for disabled people to help them build up their skills and support to look for and stay in work.
https://www.mencap.org.uk/sites/default/files/documents/ESA%20WRAG%20Review%20December%202015.pdf
3) In January the House of Lords passed an amendment to the Welfare Reform and Work bill to remove the proposed cut to ESA WRAG. This was over-turned by the House of Commons on 24 February. On 29 February the Lords passed an amendment to delay the implementation of the cut until a thorough review of its impact could be conducted. This was again over-turned by a vote in the House of Commons on 2 March. Zac Goldmith voted with the government to press ahead with the cut on both occasions.
4) A survey by the Disability Benefits Consortium found that:
- Almost 7 in 10 (69%) disabled people surveyed say cuts to ESA will cause their health to suffer
- Almost half (45%) of respondents say that the cut would probably mean they return to work later
- A third (28%) surveyed say they can’t afford to eat on the current amount they receive from ESA
- 40% of respondents have become more isolated and less able to see friends or family after their ESA was withdrawn or reduced.