ALLIANCE responds to the “modernising support for independent living” green paper
- Area of Work: Policy and Research
- Type: News Item
- Published: 24th July 2024
The previous UK Government had proposed reforms to the Personal Independence Payment which left many concerned.
The Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE) have submitted a response to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) green paper on “Modernising support for independent living”, issued under the previous government in April 2024.
The ALLIANCE advocates for a human rights based approach to social security, recognising social security payments as an essential support for millions of people. We believe that as part of this it is important to ensure that there are payments specifically intended to support with the additional costs of disability.
We are therefore concerned by proposals that could see Personal Independence Payment (PIP) move away from this principle. The proposed alternative schemes set out in the green paper would be financially inadequate, stigmatising and fail to respect people’s rights and choices. At the same time, the paper appears to be rooted in the medical model of disability, rather than the social and human rights models.
The ALLIANCE recognise that disability payments are devolved to the Scottish Parliament, and we continue to be a key stakeholder for the Scottish Government and Social Security Scotland as that system develops. We therefore understand that the proposals in the green paper would not automatically apply to devolved payments in Scotland.
We are nonetheless highly concerned by the implications of any significant reduction in Barnett consequentials available for social security expenditure in Scotland. These proposals also raise the possibility that changes in UK payments will either lead to a loss of ‘passporting’ for Scottish payments or force the Scottish Government to make changes against its own policy intentions. We have therefore chosen to respond to this consultation to put our concerns on record.
The ALLIANCE strongly recommends that the new UK Government does not proceed with these proposals.
You can read the full response via the resource links below.
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