Dan Scorer, Head of Policy at Mencap said:
The Chancellor has failed to heed calls from his own MPs to reverse damaging cuts to disabled people’s benefits that will drive them further from work and push them towards or deeper into poverty. He has also failed to address the serious crisis in funding for social care.
Whilst the change to the taper rate to Universal Credit will allow some people in work to keep a small amount more of their income, it does little to mitigate the damaging effect of the £30 a week cut to Employment and Support Allowance and it’s equivalent in Universal Credit – a cut which will hit both those out of work and those in work on low incomes.
At the last election, the Government made a promise to disabled people that they would halve the disability employment gap. The Autumn Statement offers little to help people with a learning disability move into work, or cope with the loss of support from social care services.
-ENDS-
For further information or to arrange interviews, please contact the Mencap press office on 020 7696 5414 or media@mencap.org.uk.
Notes to editors
About Mencap
There are 1.5 million people with a learning disability in the UK. Mencap works to support people with a learning disability, their families and carers by fighting to change laws, improve services and access to education, employment and leisure facilities.
Mencap supports thousands of people with a learning disability to live their lives the way they want.
For advice and information about learning disability and Mencap services in your area, contact Mencap Direct on 0808 808 1111 (9am-5pm, Monday-Friday) or email help@mencap.org.uk.
What is a learning disability?
A learning disability is a reduced intellectual ability which can cause problems with everyday tasks – for example shopping and cooking, or travelling to new places – which affects someone for their whole life.
People with a learning disability can take longer to learn new things and may need support to develop new skills, understand difficult information and engage with other people. The level of support someone needs is different with every individual. For example, someone with a severe learning disability might need much more support with daily tasks than someone with a mild learning disability.
Learning disability is not a mental illness or a learning difficulty. Very often the term ‘learning difficulty’ is wrongly used interchangeably with ‘learning disability’.