'People are scared': Surge in helpline calls after Labour announces plans for benefit cuts

Charities have seen a surge in demand for welfare support since the government announced its plans for disability benefit cuts.

Citizens Advice, Scope and Mind have said that people are increasingly calling in “distress”, worried about how they will cope “physically, financially and mentally” if their benefits are taken away.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) published its green paper last week, which proposed changes to the welfare system which are intended to push disabled and unwell people into work and off benefits.

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This includes tightening the eligibility criteria for the personal independence payment (PIP), which could see an estimated 800,000 to 1.2 million people lose thousands of pounds every year.

The government also plans to freeze the health element of universal credit for current claimants and slash it in half for new claimants.

Changes would not come into place until 2026, and the DWP is currently consulting on the plans, so they are still subject to amendments. However, charities are already seeing the impact of the announcements.

Last week, the number of calls to Mind’s welfare advice line doubled compared to the week before, from an average of 90 calls to 182. Advisers reported that “some people felt so worried about the situation that they would be left with no choice but to end their life”.

Paul Stewart, welfare benefits specialist at South East London Mind, said: “The people we help are scared. Many were already facing serious financial and health challenges and these proposed changes just add another layer of distress.

“People are telling me they don’t know how they will cope, physically, financially and mentally. Not only that, but they feel under attack, stigmatised and that the legitimacy of their conditions is being called into question.”

The charity’s other support lines received more than 2,540 calls, an increase of 10% on the previous week. Mind’s benefit and money advice pages received more than 6,000 visits, and its online peer support community ‘Side by Side’ saw 50 posts about benefit changes compared to 11 the week before.

“I worry that cutting benefits will just deepen the mental health crisis in this country, drive people into poverty and push people further away from work,” Stewart said. “I’d urge the government to listen to organisations working in the community and to the people we support – it is not too late to rethink these proposals.”

Scope’s online community saw 20,000 interactions on the day the government published its plans for disability benefit cuts, compared to 15,000 the previous Tuesday. Its helpline also saw a 200% increase in calls to 344 on 18 March, up from 118 on 11 March.

Laura Canning, helpline programme lead at Scope, said: “Disabled people are worried sick by these brutal plans to cut disability benefits. Call after call we are hearing from disabled people who simply don’t know how they will cope.

“We are hearing from disabled people who fear they will no longer be able to afford their wheelchair or to pay for their carers. People who wouldn’t be able to afford to travel to vital doctors’ and hospital appointments.”

The Big Issue has also seen a surge in readers sharing their concerns about the disability benefit cuts in recent weeks, describing how they have felt “terrified” that their financial support would be taken away.

Interviewing the DWP’s disability minister Stephen Timms, the Big Issue described readers’ concerns and asked whether he regretted how government rhetoric has made people feel.

Timms said: “I do regret that people have been caused anxiety, and I think that’s one reason why it’s a good thing we’ve been able to set out exactly what our plan is. The speculation in the press that has caused problems is over.”

However, Canning argues that the problems are not over, saying “disabled people feel frightened that they will be robbed of their independence and driven into poverty” and that “they feel abandoned by the government”.

“The government must listen to these harrowing stories from disabled people and think again. If they don’t the consequences of these cuts will be catastrophic,” Canning said.

Citizens Advice saw views of its PIP advice pages surge to nearly 80,000 views last week, an increase of 44% from the week before.

Tom MacInnes, director of policy at Citizens Advice, said: “Even before these cuts were announced we knew millions of disabled people were living on a financial knife edge, just £20 away from crisis.”

Research from Citizens Advice has found that half of disabled people in the UK would be “pushed into crisis” by a £20 bill increase. Disabled people are at greater risk of poverty, with three quarters of food bank users disabled or living with someone who is disabled, according to charity Trussell.

“Slashing these essential benefits will only make life tougher for people who are already struggling,” MacInnes said. “If people lose vital support then it is very likely they will suffer mental and physical health issues as a result. If you’re in poor accommodation, or you’re skipping meals to pay the bills, this will have a detrimental impact on your health.”

Find out how to get help from Citizens Advice, Scope and Mind. Mind’s welfare benefits helpline supports anyone with mental health problems who is navigating the benefits and welfare system. Call them on 0300 222 5782.

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