Official parliament petition here!

 

Calling all who care about the safety and well-being of the disabled within our community in England! Please, please, please contact your local MP and disability charities about this! We're people too and deserve to be treated as such, regardless of our ability to work ❤️

 

Introduction -

Roughly 1 in 5 people in Britain are classed as disabled according to parliament statistics, which works out at roughly 14.6 million people! Nobody is exempt from becoming disabled, as disability doesn't discriminate. We are all human, so we need to make sure those who have a disability in our society are supported in all ways, including financially. We shouldn't be swept under the rug and forgotten about because it's uncomfortable to think about.

I recently discovered through my own experience that there is a significant failing in the universal credit system. There's an element that applies solely to those who are disabled, known as Limited Capability for Work (+ Work Related Activities) depending on the person's disability. The DWP has failed those who claim this by enforcing a "relevant period" of 3 months, being paid on the 4th month. There is NO backdating for this period. There is also no public information relating to this "relevant period" on the .Gov website. The only way you learn about this is once you claim and question your lack of payments, or third party websites that can be an unreliable source for factual information.

 

LCFW info -

Most importantly, this is regardless of assessment so even if you're quickly approved for the benefit, like me, you still don't receive any LCFW payments for this entire period. You also cannot claim any protection payments, only your standard allowance for the entire period. The only way to get protection payments is if you're moving from an old style benefit like ESA. If you're a young disabled person like me who's under 25, you only receive £292.11 per month for this entire period. This information also isn't publicly known until you end up claiming LCFW, and even then they don't explain that it's regardless of any assessment. For example, when I claimed I was told I had to wait 3 months until I'm assessed, not regardless of assessment. It's very misleading, and the DWP hides this information as much as possible. 

 

Conclusion -

Now that I've ended up in this situation, I want to fight to change this. It's discriminatory towards the most vulnerable in our society, the disabled, and we should be offering safety to those reliant on others for support and income. I can't pay my bills, I can't afford food and I can't afford equipment I need, let alone anything for mental wellbeing; this isn't a cry for help, it's a cry for change. The system is flawed against us, and we need those who are able to fight for us. I won't be the first or last to be at the mercy of this absurd policy, and in this economy people will be unable to afford basic necessities!

 

Please help me get this debated in parliament by signing this petition for awareness, and the .Gov petition that will be linked shortly. Don't forget to share too! 

 

Possible changes -

This has been in place for many years including old style ESA. This is outdated practice! Why does it take so long to pay the most vulnerable in our society? We need to scrap the "relevant period", and change it to the 1st month post-assessment. I also believe there should be some kind of protection payments during the assessment period. Maybe if you're under a certain income, you get top up payments to make sure you have enough money to meet your needs. The system is flawed, and it's made significantly worse during the cost of living crisis. 

 

*Due to the .Gov site having an extremely short character limit, I'm initially publishing on Charge.Org to fully explain the purpose and importance of the petition. I'll be setting up a .Gov petition very soon, and I'll update this with the link to sign as this can only be changed through parliament.