On Wednesday, the Chancellor George Osborne will deliver his Autumn Statement to the House of Commons.
Recent comments by the Prime Ministerhave sought to manage expectations about whether there will be any big giveaway with the election just five months away.
However, with this year’s Autumn Financial Statement falling on the
International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Scope will be keeping a close eye on what the statement will mean for disabled people and their families.
Here are three things we’ll be looking out for:
1) What does the investment in the NHS mean for social care?
At the weekend the Chancellor
pledged to invest £2bn in the NHSin a bid to address the anticipated
‘Winter Crisis’facing the health service. Lots of debate has already taken place about what this money means.
However, for Scope it’s critical that any decisions about future investment in the health service are not made in isolation from discussions about the future funding settlement for the adult social care system.
Without investing in social care support for individuals who have lower level needs, disabled people are instead forced to rely on acute care services in the shorter term - which is both worse for their wellbeing and more expensive.
Encouragingly, when David Cameron was asked in
Prime Minister’s Questionslast week about whether there would be extra funding for the health system, the PM specifically mentioned social care - alongside the NHS - in his answer. We’ll be hoping to hear a stronger commitment to recognising the critical role of the social care system in the Chancellor’s Statement on Wednesday.
2) A commitment to employment support for disabled people
Last week the Government received the last of the important independent reviews of the Work Capability Assessment. As the economy returns to growth and employment numbers pick up, Scope wants to see ensure that disabled people can find, stay in and progress in work.
The Autumn Statement offers a timely opportunity for the Chancellor to demonstrate his commitment.
Earlier this year the Chancellor outlined his ambitionfor Britain to achieve full employment – something that can’t be done without seeing a real boost to the numbers of disabled people in work.
Investment in Access to Work would be an extremely welcome move – the scheme provides vital financial support for disabled people in work each and every day.
Scope is also calling forthe development of inclusive regional growth, flexible adjustment leave that supports individuals with fluctuating health conditions to remain in contact with the workplace for longer, and a more tailored and flexible approach to employment support - providing employers with reassurances that disabled people could access employment support at any point in their career.
3) Protecting the value of extra costs payments
George Osborne announced in his speech at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham that a future Conservative Government would protect Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payments in any further freeze on benefits.
Scope
warmly welcomed this announcement, as
we had called on all partiesto protect these payments that help meet the extra costs of disability.
In our submission to the Treasury ahead of the Autumn Statement, we called on the Government to protect the value of extra costs payments.
Scope will be looking for George Osborne to reiterate this commitment to protecting DLA and PIP should there be any further announcements relating to the benefits freeze on Wednesday.