Welfare Cuts: Are We An Easy Target?

Now its cooled down a bit and I am not sweating like a cheese sandwich in a service station. I thought I would give my thoughts on the welfare cuts, which has left many of us deflated. The reason I feel so deflated and perhaps many others too, is that is just feels like we were targeted.

As someone who talks about housing a lot as a social tenant. I was always baffled why the last government and the Labour government did not address rents. Like me explain that and the link as I see it to welfare cuts. Rents have been rising for many years now, as well as LHA rates alongside. For those that don’t know, the LHA rate is local housing allowance. So, if you rent privately and fall ill or face a change of circumstance, your rent will be paid for you in most cases.

Because rents were allowed to keep rising and the LHA rate was frozen. This meant that the cost of housing support has risen considerably in recent years. So, lets look at the cost and why I think we were targeted, as the government ignored costs in other areas. Doing some research and looking up the figures, I have found that:

• In 2022/23, the DWP spent £28.97 bn covering both Housing Benefit (£15 bn) and UC housing element (£13.97 bn)
• Estimates for the latest year, 2024/25, show overall housing support rising to around £35.1 bn, according to recent government forecasts
• That’s an increase of roughly £6.1 billion in just two years—a 21% rise in annual housing support spending.

Now, lets look at what they government was looking to save on disability costs. That was around £5bn they were looking to save from the overall cost of welfare. So, the question is, are we an easy target? and the follow up to that, why did they ignore the cost of housing support, as part of the welfare cost? The argument from government was around cost and doing right by the taxpayer.

As I have talked about 2 months ago in my post Rents: The problem that won’t go away. I talk about the cost Boris Johnson mentioned 3 years ago in a housing speech.  It seems to me that landlords and the money they receive from government, is being ignored. As those of us with disabilities are being targeted to make savings.

The Work Side

There is a lot of talk about work and getting people to work where they can. I understand that and proud of the fact I managed to get 30 plus years of work behind me, with all my health problems. Looking back, I have to be honest that I regret many of the jobs I did, but I felt I had to do them. I was so determined after my transplant to do all I could, as I struggled with my ‘new normal’ post diagnosis.

Do politicians and decision makers truly understand what we face as they make budgeting decisions? Why are we a target, when other parts of the welfare bill were ignored? I accept the numbers need looking at, something is clearly going on and it would be wrong for that to be ignored. But costs are also rising with housing support and in my view we have been unfairly targeted. The focus is on saving money, and there seems to be an assumption we are making it up.

For my part I have kidney disease and suffer with my mental health, as well as arthritis as I have gotten older. There is no cure for chronic kidney disease, Dialysis and a transplant are the only treatments. Therefore benefits will come into our lives as patients post diagnosis, as well as housing issues in some cases. Many do work, but equally many do not because of how the diagnosis makes us feel. I had no energy on dialysis and did not work. Then you feel worthless on benefits, not being able to look after yourself at 26, as I was back then. That will be alien to many decision makers.

My worry is for kidney patients and many others that will face a diagnosis in the future. I know many will face a financial struggle, possible housing issues and or course mental health. The figures are stark on mental health for kidney patients as an example. Its vital they get the help and support they need.

So, looking back I understand the argument about mental health and work, I just struggle with the way they are doing it. Work was actually my way of feeling as normal as I could be, even though I regret some of the jobs I did now as I look back. Heavy lifting and demanding work that I did, after such a huge change in my life. But back in 1995 we were not talking about our mental health. What I know now is that I was wrong to bottle up all my feelings, I see mental health in a very different way now. So, I admire the younger generation talking much more openly about mental health.

Hopefully people won’t have to do what I did. One of the jobs I did post transplant was moving 56lb bags of potatoes around all day. I had pallets of them to get through, I was physically exhausted, working my backside off for £5 an hour. But I knew I was a strong lad and it was my way of using that strength to help me feel normal again. I refer to it as a ‘new normal’ now, but that is how I felt at the time. I was rehoused by the local authority and was determined to change my life. Basically do all I could in honor of my donor, they have seen me through the toughest of times.

We were told not to cry, show emotion, get on with it etc. The get on with it attitude many of my generation were indoctrinated with. Its actually why I have mixed feelings looking back sometimes. I know that has actually helped me with my resilience, as I come up to 30 yrs of my transplant. So, I understand the argument about resilience and mental health. It is important we fight back where we can, as hard as that can be sometimes. Because in my view that helps us, as we gain strength and resilience from the adversity that we face. Its a bit like a bank, we draw on it in times of need and that helps us to get through the next issue we face.

However, there is a flip side to that coin that I didn’t really see coming because of how I was. What manual work has done to me, alongside 30 years of very strong medication for my transplant. I still take 15 pills day, but it was double that years ago. My body now breaking down from the medication, as well as the work I did. Looking back I wish I had changed jobs years ago, but its what we knew. I hope the DWP realise that when over 50s are saying they wish they could work. What they are saying is in my view, that they wish they had the body they had 20 years ago. That should not be taken out of context and feel it has been.

I did start a social sciences degree through the Open University quite a few years ago now, but felt conflicted with my lived experience. I questioned why I felt the need to do it, as I realised as I got older, that education comes in many forms. My resilience and independence, has come from what I have faced and has helped me in many ways. For me it not about knocking education, merely understanding that it comes in many forms. I actually have a high IQ, I just don’t look good on paper.

What I had realised was, I was trying to fill in the blanks of what was missing in my life, having missed so much school. Having been discriminated against by so many employers, including many charities sadly. Who were basically asking me for 5 GCSE’s or a degree, when the job did not require that. But it also got me thinking about so many others with disabilities. Do they face the same and do we have the same opportunities as others? Do the DWP fully understand that there simply has not been that opportunity. The government is pushing work as being good for mental health, but  I struggle with the term ‘good work’. For me its far too simplistic for reasons I mention.

In this push to get people back to work, I genuinely hope it helps some, as it has for me. But the government also need to look at who it speaks too. In the last few years think tanks have popped up all over, using data sets and surveys in reports. The risk of that is politicians and decision makers listen to think tanks and not to people it affects. I would add charities to that as well, who do good work in many areas. But they also far too often throw out surveys as they do a data grab themselves. How many with lived experience, or the working class are part of these organisations? In my view, its something that needs addressing, in the interests of fairness and balance.

The good thing that has come out of all of this, is disabled people feeling empowered, perhaps like never before. The debate has saddened me a little at times, as I feel like different opinions have been shut out. Its become like tell me what we want to hear, or we stick you in our hall of shame. That is really not what debate is about for me, as its vital politicians hear as many different opinions as possible.

Its important that we understand that we won’t always hear what we want to hear. There is no need to take that personally, they are just different views as part of the democracy we live in. Its important we give our views on people claiming as well, I have seen it all over the years. Its no good the disabled community ignoring the rising numbers, it will be happening for a reason. If we want to protect each other, we also need to call out those that abuse the system. The case from 2024 I still remember and the numbers were staggering, 53 Million. So, its important we too keep an open mind on what is going on.

Its also important that politicians don’t target us and treat us like a tick box exercise. The random person in the room, giving our experience so they can say they spoke to us. That has to change and so do organisation involved around policy. They should not be involved or engaged with policy, unless they have a wide range of people employed within their organisations. How can you have effective policy, if you listen to people all trained to think the same way, with little or no balance in the debate?

I hope the government learn from this, but remain sceptical. Trust has been lost and because we are shut out of the conversation, they seem to make the same mistake over and over again. Everything becomes reactive and not proactive. It ends up with, we will speak to disabled people and their organisations, but why did you not do that in the first place? Could it be you listened to those think tanks and don’t have enough balance on your advisory panels? To solve a problem, you have to listen to as many people as possible and I hope they do listen. Thanks for reading and keep well – Stuart