Mencap were one of many charities to hand in a petition at Westminster today, to demand action be taken to protect the lives of thousands of people across the UK, as bills continue to rise.
Mencap joined up with health, children’s, older people charities and anti-poverty organisations to ask the Government for a robust plan of action to protect people on the lowest incomes in the coming months.
Currently, people with a learning disability and their families and carers are not getting the support they need to combat the rising costs of living, with the most recent promise of a £150 payment not enough to cover the projected thousands that this winter’s bills will cost. Mencap and the charity coalition are calling for fast, direct action to protect those who need it most, before the colder months hit.
Collectively, the coalition is calling on the Prime Minister to:
1. Make Friday’s ‘fiscal event’ a full emergency budget that thoroughly addresses the cost-of-living crisis
2. Announce an immediate boost to Universal Credit and other benefits
3. Freeze bills, get the energy cap under control and fix our broken energy system
Research shows that disabled people face extra costs of up to £583 a month more than non-disabled people. Many people with a learning disability face significant barriers to accessing financial support, while some pay 40% of their income from benefits to councils through social care charging.
While the Government has previously encouraged people to seek work as a resolution to their financial woes, for many people with a learning disability this simply isn’t an option; only 5.1% of people with a learning disability known to adult social care are in work while over 60% people who were referred to foodbanks in early 2020 were disabled.
Edel Harris OBE, Chief Executive of Mencap, said: “The Government support offered doesn't go far enough for people with a learning disability, their families and carers, as they struggle to cope with the pressures of this crisis. How will people with a learning disability be able to afford the increase in bills? Will social security payments be uprated in line with inflation so people with a learning disability don’t have to choose between food and heating, when for many, options to increase income through employment are not a possibility? What additional support will social care providers be given to see the sector through this winter, when tackling a workforce crisis and raised energy bills?
“We need urgent clarity on these questions to provide certainty to those with a learning disability and their families. Anxiety is high. The Government needs to take further action to make sure they aren’t priced out and forgotten. We hope that Friday’s ‘emergency budget’ will step up support for people with a learning disability and help them to weather the storm that lies ahead.”
