Fri 1 Feb 2019 16.41 GMT
Last modified on Fri 1 Feb 2019 16.43 GMT
To suggest our reforms have created a benefits system staked against disabled claimants is pure scaremongering. Frances Ryan gives an incomplete picture of the support on offer (Disabled people are going hungry and ministers are to blame. Tears are not enough, 30 January).
We are actually spending more on benefits for disabled people and those with health conditions than ever before – £52.7bn, more than either on the police, defence or schools. This year, spending on main disability benefits – personal independence payment (PIP), disability living allowance (DLA), and attendance allowance – will be over £4bn higher than in 2010. These are exempt from the benefit freeze and increase every year.
We have increased the maximum grant available through Access to Work to almost £60,000 per person per year, and over 10,000 businesses identify as disability confident, meaning more doors are opened to more people. There are now, for the first time, more disabled people in work than not – a clear sign that significant progress is being made.
PIP is not means-tested and is for people in and out of work. It can be claimed alongside income replacement benefits such as universal credit. A higher proportion of people receiving PIP get the highest rate, compared to the outdated DLA it replaces.
PIP gives parity of esteem to non-physical conditions and physical conditions, meaning many people with mental health conditions get much more support under PIP than compared with the old system. Meanwhile, we continue to make improvements as we roll out, for example stopping unnecessary reassessments for PIP for people with the most severe and lifelong conditions.
I’m determined to ensure that whatever a disabled person’s circumstances, they are able to access personalised, tailored support – and that’s exactly what we are doing.
Sarah Newton
Minister for disabled people, health and work
• So, re Heidi Allen, “finally, a Tory MP is shocked by austerity” (Letters, 28 January). What about the Conservative MPs who tried living on benefits or experiencing the lives of many of our fellow citizens? Matthew Parris (1984), Piers Merchant (1986), David Willetts (2002), Michael Portillo (2003), Iain Duncan Smith (2013)? Deja vu all over again, as they say.
Martin Pilgrim
Canterbury, Kent
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