Response to Emergency Budget

Responding to the chancellor’s emergency budget announced today, Neil Betteridge, chief executive of Arthritis Care, says:

‘While we are pleased that the Disability Living Allowance (DLA) will be kept at its current level, the decision to introduce a new “medical assessment” to qualify for DLA from 2013 may result in people with arthritis who are currently entitled to receive DLA not being able to qualify in future. In this respect, it is essential that any changes to the current benefit system are applied in a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory manner.

‘Disability benefits are not expendable luxuries or superfluous privileges; they are important entitlements which many people rely on for their day-to-day livelihoods. That’s why any changes to the present system must be fair and equitable, and the most vulnerable – especially people on lower incomes or receiving lower, but vital, levels of benefits - must be safeguarded.’

DLA was introduced in recognition of the extra costs that disabled people and people with limited mobility incur on a regular basis – this includes, among other things, having to rely on taxis because access to public transport is difficult, or younger disabled people having to pay for high energy bills rather than benefit from the winter fuel payments which, at present, only apply to older people.

In addition, many families coping with long-term medical conditions are already on benefits and tax credits levels that leave them struggling to cope, with DLA often failing to cover the true costs that they face.

Arthritis is the most common condition for which people receive Disability Living Allowance[1]. It is estimated that around 50 per cent of people with rheumatoid arthritis will be unable to work through disability within 10 years[2]. 

Footnotes
[1] Department for Work and Pensions, November 2009. Disability Living Allowance – cases in payment Caseload (Thousands): Main Disabling Condition by Gender of claimant.

[2] National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, Rheumatoid Arthritis: The management of rheumatoid arthritis in adults 2009.