Government’s focus is on ‘punishing’ young disabled people rather than supporting them, activists fear

Activists have told an inquiry they fear the government is focusing its attention on “punishing” young disabled people for their needs and challenges, rather than ensuring they receive the support they need.

Members of Disabled People Against Cuts Cymru (DPAC Cymru) raised their concerns in a response to a call for evidence from an inquiry into young people and work, led by former Labour health secretary Alan Milburn.

The response was submitted last week, shortly before the end of the inquiry’s six-week call for evidence.

Milburn was commissioned by work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden to examine the factors driving the increase in the number of young people who are “not in education, employment or training” (NEET).

Disability News Service reported in November that the terms of reference for Milburn’s Report into Young People and Work made it clear that its only focus was disabled young people.

DPAC Cymru said that comments made publicly by Milburn that too many young people were being diagnosed with mental health conditions and were using those diagnoses to claim disability benefits, showed he failed to understand the disability benefits system and the barriers faced by young disabled people.

It said these comments increased its concerns that “the government’s focus is unfairly weighted towards punishing young people for their needs and challenges, instead of considering what can be done to better support them”.

And it said it was “deeply concerned” at the “framing, bias, unfairness, limitations, and lack of independence” of a series of government reviews around disability, including the Milburn review and the review of personal independence payment being led by Sir Stephen Timms.

In its response to Milburn’s call for evidence, DPAC Cymru pointed to the range of barriers faced by young disabled people – particularly those who are neurodivergent or who experience mental distress – that have led to them being forced out of the education and employment systems.

And rather than young people being over-diagnosed – a frequent claim by politicians and across mainstream media, as well as by Milburn – DPAC Cymru said waiting-list evidence suggested there was under-diagnosis, particularly of autism, while thousands of young people also faced lengthy delays in accessing suitable mental health support.

The impact of the pandemic had also left many young people with long Covid, and associated health conditions, DPAC Cymru said.

The DPAC Cymru report calls for better employment support; improvements to the Access to Work and personal independence payment (PIP) systems; and more to be done to ensure disabled people can secure the reasonable adjustments they need in the workplace.

And it says there should be improvements to the key “transition points” faced by young disabled people as they move into the adult social security, employment, health, education and skills systems.

Among its recommendations, DPAC Cymru also calls for a focus on supporting young disabled people in education, rather than “punishing them for their additional needs”; improving awareness and understanding around disability in the workplace; opposing cuts to benefits; and for policy to be co-produced with disabled people.

The DPAC Cymru response – coordinated by Briallen Symons-East – concludes: “There are many ways in which the government can support young disabled people and young people with health conditions in education and employment, but the focus must be on improving the quality and availability of support, not reducing or removing the support that is already available.”

Meanwhile, the three co-chairs of the government’s PIP review – disability minister Sir Stephen Timms, Dr Clenton Farquharson, and Sharon Brennan – have announced the names of the 12 members of their steering group.

Most of the members are disabled people, and several are well-known disabled activists, but there has been criticism of the decision to appoint a special adviser to three Conservative prime ministers – Jean-André Prager – to the steering group.

Prager, a senior fellow at the right-wing thinktank Policy Exchange, called in a report last year for “unsustainable” spending on disability benefits to be cut and suggested that many younger disabled people, particularly many of those with mental distress, should not be eligible for those benefits.

The PIP review will report to work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden by the autumn, with an interim update expected in the next few months.

Brennan said in a government press release: “The group we have chosen shows our commitment to ensuring this review is co-produced with people from a diversity of backgrounds including lived and living experience, protected characteristics, geographies and professions.

“But 15 people can’t represent everyone, which is why our work will be part of a wider engagement process to ensure we hear from many more voices throughout the review.”

Farquharson added: “Personal independence payment plays a vital role in enabling disabled people to live independent lives.

“This review will listen closely to lived experience, test whether the system is fair, and ensure PIP reflects the realities of disability in the modern world.”

Picture: A DPAC Cymru protest in Cardiff last June