Hunt’s disability plans put 1m at risk of losing £350 a month, IFS says

theguardian.com:

Up to 1 million people currently claiming incapacity benefits could lose hundreds of pounds a month as a result of plans outlined in the budget to push ahead with the “biggest reforms to the welfare system in a decade,” experts have said.

The warning came as ministers unveiled a range of measures to try to drive more people back into the workplace, including scrapping controversial “fit for work” tests for disabled claimants and stepping up the threat of benefit sanctions against part-time workers.

The chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, said the proposals would help hundreds of thousands of people with a disability who want to work, while cracking down on universal credit claimants who fail to search hard enough for a job or reject a reasonable offer of employment.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies said up to 1 million people currently on incapacity benefits could lose about £350 a month as a result of dropping the work capability assessment (WCA), which assesses capacity for work, and using the personal independence payment (Pip) test, which measures only the extra living costs of disability.

It said the logic of the plan meant those who have conditions that prevent them working – such as people with short-term or fluctuating illnesses – but who do not claim Pip, or incur major additional living costs, would no longer receive extra support. Pip tests are also widely distrusted and currently take 14 weeks to process.

Charities and disability campaigners broadly welcomed the proposals to scrap the much-hated WCA but said the government had a “mountain to climb” to regain the trust of disabled people subjected to degrading and flawed benefit tests in recent years.

Mental health charity Mind attacked the proposals as an “overly-simplistic