Vigil outside high court for case against consultation on WCA changes

Time: 9am

Date: Tuesday 10 December 2024

Place: outside the Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London WC2A 2LL

The legal challenge against the consultation on changes to the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) will be heard in the high court on 10 and 11 December.

DPAC is holding a vigil outside the Royal Courts of Justice in solidarity with the case on the morning of the first day of the hearing. The hearing is open to public and we have asked for a wheelchair accessible court room. The vigil will finish in time for those who want to listen to the hearing to go in.

We can cover reasonable travel expenses for DPAC members able to attend, as well as accommodation for those otherwise unable to get there for the early start.

Please bring banners and placards (although these will need to be left at security if you want to come in to the hearing.)

We are disappointed that Labour has chosen to defend the case in order to push ahead with the same changes proposed by the Tories.

An interim hearing in the case held in November heard that no evaluation of equality/disability impacts or employment outcomes was carried out on the proposals either before or during the consultation – only policy costings were worked out.

The consultation documents justified the proposed changes on the grounds that they would support more disabled people into employment. No information was given about the reduction in benefit rates that the changes would entail.

The claimant in the case alleges that the consultation was therefore flawed.

Just a few weeks after the close of the consultation the proposed changes were included in the Autumn 2023 budget as a way of making savings.

A forecast from the Office for Budget Responsibility showed that only 3% of the 453,000 disabled people predicted to lose out by 2028/9 as a result of the changes will be able to move into employment.

The changes will only apply to new benefit claimants – although existing claimants will be affected if they come off benefits and then reapply.

The two groups of claimants who will be impacted are those with mobility impairments and those in the “substantial risk” group, who are those deemed to be at risk of self injury and/or suicide if forced to look for work.

Around 424,000 claimants will as a result of the changes only be able to access out of work benefits at 47% of the rate existing claimants do.

Those with mobility impairments will have to undertake mandatory work search activity and be subject to conditionality and sanctions.

Those in the substantial risk group will not have mandatory work search activity. However, there are increasing expectations in terms of engagement with the Department for Work and Pensions.

These changes will lead to deeper poverty among disabled people and unquestionably to more benefit deaths.

The proposed changes also ignore the findings and recommendations from the special inquiry under the Convention on the Rights of Disabled People carried out by the United Nations Disability Committee which found the UK guilty of grave and systematic of violations of Disabled People’s rights due to austerity and welfare reform.

If you are unable to attend the vigil but want to show solidarity please take to social media using the hashtag #NoMoreDeathsFromBenefitCuts.

Please also contact your MP to ask for their support in opposing disability benefit cuts and to tell them what you think the consequences of these cuts will be.