ELDERLY and disabled adults are nearly £2 billion worse off in paying for social care since plans for a cap were shelved three years ago, according to Labour analysis of government data.
Around 534,000 additional people would have received state support from 2016 to 2026 were the cap implemented by the Department of Health and Social Care as was planned, the party said.
Financial transfers to older and working-age adults would have exceeded £1.26bn, or nearly £1.3bn when factoring in inflation, by March this year.
Plans to delay access to the universal credit health element until age 22 have triggered fierce opposition from disabled people’s groups, who warn it would deepen poverty and entrench discrimination against young disabled people under the guise of ‘encouraging work.’ DYLAN MURPHY reports
A new report from the Citizens Advice destroys the government narrative about disabled people ‘choosing’ not to work, showing the £3,000 annual cuts will create a two-tiered system based on claim dates rather than needs, writes DYLAN MURPHY


