Adur District: Extra Support For People With Disabilities Considered

Extra support for people with disabilities has been considered by Adur District Council following national changes to benefits.

Extra support for people with disabilities has been considered by Adur District Council following national changes to benefits.

A motion to improve outreach by the council to Adur’s disability groups, and charities and include new guidelines for some Adur Community Grant bids, was heard at a full council meeting on Thursday, December 14. 

Cat Arnold (Lab, St Mary’s) and Sharon Sluman (Lab, Mash Barn), who proposed the motion, said the council needed to ‘protect’ its residents from the impacts of changes to benefits on cost of living and lifestyle changes, by improving communication with disability groups via one of its providers, TellJO.

The motion said the council should consult ‘local disability groups and charities’ to understand the effects on people with disabilities, of the national government’s changes to requirements for benefits, due to come into force in 2025.

It also said project bids for the Adur Community Grants, the council’s scheme for small grants of up to £5,000, should include ‘pre and post-impact assessment reports on disabled benefit advice’.

Ann Bridges (Con, Widewater) said about the benefit changes:

"It was noted that when the chancellor referred to the cuts in benefits, that the department of work and pensions would be sympathetic.

"Well, as the mother of a disabled son I would know that they’ve never been sympathetic."

Kevin Boram (Con, Buckingham) said there was ‘much to be commended’ about what the government was trying to achieve with the changes to benefits, saying spending on disability allowances had gone up from £17.1billion in 2010/11 to £39.2 illion in 2023/24 – accounting for four per cent of public spending.

He said:

"The reforms as I’ve been told are to reduce the number of assessments, to provide more personal levels of support, enable people to progress to work without losing benefits and remove barriers to employment – work is really important for those that can work.

"It also says there will be a safety net in the legislation, but I think everybody is absolutely right in saying ‘what is the detail?’ – that’s where the devil lays – and how will it be actioned."

Andy McGregor (Con, Widewater) said he fully supported the aims of the motion but the council was already doing what was in it, ‘and more’.

He added:

"The role of the opposition, as I understand it, is to come up with suggestions to improve council services, and all they’ve come up with in this motion is to carry on doing what we’re doing."

Cllr Sluman said people with disabilities were being ‘let down’ by services ‘across the board’ and needed greater support from the council to assist them – quoting a ‘failing NHS’, and a lack of accessible transport and housing for people working from home.

She said:

"In particular, [a] lady who has been housebound for ten weeks, on the third floor with a broken lift, who has ten more weeks to go before the part is delivered for her to be able to access the outside world.

"Adur and Worthing’s disability group that folded might be interested to hear how you’re doing everything."

The motion also quoted a report to the UN by the UK’s Equality and Human Rights Commission, saying from 2016 there had been gaps in ‘meaningful engagement’ between people with disabilities and governments across the UK.

The motion will be decided by Adur’s joint strategic sub-committee at its next meeting.