Cost uchel toriadau lles Llywodraeth y DG i Gymru

Erthygl Sioned Williams AS am sut y bydd y rhai sydd fwyaf angen cefnogaeth yn talu'r pris uchaf

(Yn Saesneg yn unig)

The high cost to Wales of the UK Government’s cuts to welfare

I want to explain why the UK Government’s proposed changes to welfare matter so much in Wales. 

If you already rely on disability benefits like PIP to help you carry out daily activities, then you will be all too painfully aware of what these cuts will mean. If you’re lucky enough not to need them now – and I say this because 80% of disabled people acquire disability later in life -  there may come a time when you will need extra support – and so this is very important to us all.

Wales has the highest proportion of disabled people in the UK, at 26%. Wales also has higher rates of disabled people of working age than the UK average and five of the UK's 10 local authorities with the highest rates of people not in work because of long-term illness. So these cuts are going to hit people in Wales the hardest.

The UK Government says the reason for their proposed cuts to disability benefits is to help get disabled people into work. However, I was part of a Senedd Committee inquiry that looked into what’s stopping disabled people who are able and want to work from getting a job, and I can tell you that it’s not because they need less financial support like PIP.

Rather, it’s because there are barriers to the world of work which should be tackled by Employers and by Government. Some of these barriers are to do with the environment, like suitable equipment, or lack of access for wheelchair users for example. Some of these barriers are also to do with negative attitudes of employers towards disabled people.  

So, if disabled people who want to, and are able to work, have real barriers to entering work, then taking away financial support will only cause them to be poorer, and less able to gain a job.

That’s certainly been the overwhelming conclusion from inequality and poverty experts and disability rights campaigners, and, most importantly, disabled people themselves.