 The drive for savings may mean punitive welfare decisions |
Those working for disabled people fear the Welfare Reform Bill going through Parliament may put some people under undue pressure to return to work or face benefit cuts.
In Wales, there are also claims that those needing home care are facing far higher bills as a consequence of a change in Assembly Government policy.
The Welfare system across Britain is in the midst of major reform.
The UK Government wants to save �7bn by getting people off benefits and back to work.
Some working on behalf of disabled people fear the desire to make savings may already be resulting in harsh decisions on benefits.
Clive Oliver of Powys Welfare Rights Forum said: "We're finding more and more people claiming disability benefits being turned down and a lot more cases are going to appeal tribunal.
"My organisation is winning about 93 or 94% of tribunals which somewhere along the line means somebody is not making good decisions."
On the right path?
The Government's "Pathways to Work" project to help those on Incapacity Benefit return to work was trialled in MP Chris Bryant's Rhondda constituency.
He says disabled people need not fear the changes.
 Being forced back into work may be detrimental to health |
Mr Bryant said: "What we've been doing locally has made such a difference because we've had an individual at the Job Centre Plus office working very determinedly on the side of the person who's seeking work, trying to find ways of using the abilities that they do have rather than focusing on the disabilities that they have."
Welfare changes effect people across the UK but in Wales its claimed those with disabilities currently face an additional pressure.
The charges councils make to provide home care for the disabled have risen in many cases. It had been anticipated that the Assembly Government's plan to provide free home care would cover these rises.
But in February this year that policy was scrapped.
Now it's claimed disabled people are picking up the price rise tab.
Jenny Hambidge of Disability Powys said: "Throughout Wales, we have evidence that people were being reassessed, their charges were being reassessed.
"It's our opinion, and it's an educated opinion, that charges have gone up and we suspect it was in expectation of the money that was going to come from the Welsh Assembly Government.
"Now this has left disabled people in an invidious position because a lot of us have been reassessed and have been left with higher charges than we were before."
Fees hike
One of Disability Powys' clients was paying �57.20 a week for home care.
His local authority are now asking him for �180 a week - over treble the amount.
Ms Hambidge said other clients are no longer getting the help they need because they can not afford the new costs.
Chief Executive of Disability Wales, Rhian Davies, noted that, since councils expected to be compensated by the Assembly Government for providing free care, there was no incentive for them to keep prices low.
Rhian Davies said: "The funds would have been divvied out amongst the various local authorities.
"So of course those local authorities paying the higher charges stood to gain the most from the grant scheme."
The Assembly Government says the setting of charges is a matter for councils. But a task group including Disability Wales is working on ways to increase the amount of income disabled people retain after charging for home care.
Up to �17m has been set aside to implement the group's proposals from April 2007.
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