Our friends at Learning Disability England work hard to influence funding decisions and understanding how it affects peoples lives.
Universal Credit has had a negative impact on many people (and that’s putting it politely) and Learning Disability England wanted to find out how it affects people with a learning disability.
Their newly published report clearly shows the impact the of ‘benefit’ on people’s lives.
Here is just one of the many distressing realities for someone in Kent:
“My name is Peter and I used to be on Job Seekers Allowance and a Personal Independence Payment. My finances are looked after by KCC Financial Services. In January 2019 they stopped my PIP payment which is being appealed. By June 2019 I had no money left and KCC got in contact to let me know. I started using a Food Bank. It was decided I would be better off on Universal Credit. The paperwork was put in but I had to wait 5 weeks for a payment. My washing machine broke down so KCC applied for a loan to buy a new one. I got my first Universal Credit payment in September 2019. It went straight to KCC Financial Services. It was only a small payment because the loan was taken out of it. The next payment was in October 2019. I now have £30 a week to live on. I used Food Banks for 4 months and I am still using them now.”
You can read the full report here: Universal-Credit-December-2019-pdf-1