Disability campaigner Ellen Clifford says the WCA shake-up is motivated purely by cutting spending.

DWP WCA shake-up is 'rushed, disingenuous and a smokescreen for cuts'

by · Birmingham Live

A planned change to the Work Capability Assessment coming from the Labour Party government and Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is nothing but a "smokescreen" for cuts, it has been warned. Disability campaigner Ellen Clifford says the WCA shake-up is motivated purely by cutting spending.

“The DWP’s revelation that they carried out absolutely no employment or disability impact assessment has confirmed my fears: this rushed and disingenuous consultation was just a smokescreen for cuts,” said Clifford to the Big Issue. “It was never a legitimate attempt to hear the voices of deaf and disabled people or support them into work.

“In reality, a lot of people will struggle to pay everyday bills if these proposed changes go ahead.” Clifford’s lawyer Aoife O’Reilly, of Public Law Project, said: “Ellen Clifford has maintained throughout her challenge that the true or primary motive behind the consultation was to reduce spending on disability benefits, rather than being about consulting on proposals that would help more deaf and disabled people to enter the workforce or access support with a view to doing so.

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“The fact that lawyers for the DWP have now confirmed to the court that no employment or disability impacts were carried out before the consultation began further supports her position that this was a money-saving exercise, disingenuously presented to some of the most vulnerable people in our society.”

A DWP spokesperson said: “The work capability assessment is simply not working. It needs to be reformed or replaced as part of a proper plan to genuinely support disabled people into work – bringing down the benefits bill and ensuring we continue to deliver the savings set out by the previous government.

“But these sorts of changes shouldn’t be made in haste. That’s why we’re taking the time to review this in the round before setting out next steps on our approach.”