Begg at home for welfare reform fears

Sunil Peck

A disabled MP has said that she hopes the success of a round-table event, in which disabled people discussed their fears about welfare policy with MPs, will lead to other similar events.

Dame Anne Begg, chair of the work and pensions select committee which scrutinises the Government’s welfare policies, says that she organised the informal event as a trial to give disabled people the chance to converse with MPs without the pressure that can come with more formal evidence-gathering sessions.

A range of disabilities was represented and those people present drew on their own experiences of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) to explain their concerns about the coalition Government’s welfare policies.

Dr Sharon McConville, who has a mental health condition, explained that DLA meant that she could support herself during periods of mental illness and keep out of hospital. But she said that she was concerned that she would be assessed as ineligible for the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) when it replaces DLA.

Speaking to Disability Now after the event, Dr McConville said that she thought that the MPs had listened to her concerns and had asked relevant questions about her situation.

“I felt I was having a conversation and I didn’t feel intimidated at all. From what I had heard about the usual way of conducting inquiries, they can feel more like a interrogation.”

Madeleine Close, a guide dog user, told the MPs that she thought the assessment procedure for PIP might be too inflexible to take account of conditions like her eye condition, which fluctuates.

She told Disability Now that the chance for disabled people to meet MPs added an important dimension to the campaigns waged by disability organisations against welfare reform.

“We have the stories and experiences. That makes more of a difference than lobbyists from a charity like RNIB presenting reports or statistics or surveys to MPs.”

Jayne Leak, who has autism, said that although the round-table did little to allay her fears about being marginalised by the introduction of the PIP, the concept behind the event was a good one.

“I thought the meeting was a mixed bag. The idea was good but it was bad that an MP or two left during the meeting. There was a good mix of people with disabilities and surprisingly there wasn’t much competition between the disabled groups in saying ‘it’s worse for me than those other groups.’”

Dame Anne says that the disabled participants’ evidence will feed into the committee’s work of assessing the Government’s welfare policy.

She said she was keen to stage other events outside London for disabled people to attend.