Why the Welfare Reform Bill must do more to protect the disabled children of lone parents

By Alexandra Kemp

The race is now on to personalise Welfare Reform and get it right for every family. The outcome of the Government’s successful welfare policy to reduce child poverty by helping parents back into work – children’s centres, extended schools, the New Deal for Loan Parents, tax credits – has seen the number of lone parents in work soar from 44% back in 1997 to 57% today.

But 35% of non-working lone parents have disabled children. The overwhelming majority of those want to work but they still face practical barriers – lack of affordable, specialised childcare and the impact of recurring health issues on both child and parent. Lone parents could also face a double-edged sword, with the possibility of the unfair loss of Income Support.

Unless the Government fine tunes the Welfare Reform Bill to protect them now.

At the report stage of the Welfare Reform Bill in the House of Lords on Thursday, the Child Poverty Action Group and the West Norfolk Women and Carers’ Pensions Network spearheaded a crucial amendment to safeguard lone parents whose disabled children are on any rate of Disablity Living Allowance (DLA) from the possibility of losing benefits through sanctions. The amednement will protect parents who cannot comply with the new work-related activity regime which the Bill introduces for parents on Income Support when their youngest child is just three.

Lord McKenzie’s response was reassuring:

“We share common ground in respect of moving towards personalisation, so that the support that people get is determined not by the benefit that they are on, but by the support and help that they need to access the labour market.”

But even after the report, The Bill dangerously leaves the power to sanction to the benefit officers who do not always ask the right questions and are not fully informed about the true extent of parents’ circumstances and the availability of childcare, particularly in rural areas. It was recently found, for instance, that the lone parent of a severely disabled child in rural Norfolk regularly pays out £30 in specialist childcare costs every time she attends JobCentrePlus, 15 miles away, for a work-focused interview. JobCentrePlus Staff have never informed her of her right to claim back these costs.

The Government has said it will exempt lone parents with disabled children on higher- or middle-rate DLA from compulsory work-related activity because of the constant and substantial demands of caring for their children. But there can be a fine dividing line between the needs of children with lower- and middle-rate DLA where children have fluctuating conditions including autism, Aspergers and ADHD – lifelong developmental disabilities affecting communication and social interaction. Parents are often called into schools during the day, there are hospital visits and stays, constant stress and sleepless nights.

One lone parent confessed:

“I just felt guilty having to consider my son’s needs at their worst. This is why I did not get the benefit earlier”.

Moreover, the complexity of the 40-page DLA claim form, difficulty accessing specialist help to complete it and inconsistency in decision making means there are are children wrongly on lower-rate DLA. The benefits are periodically reassessed without enquiry as to whether the impact of the disability has actually decreased.

So our amendment also protects lone parents whose child’s existing DLA has been downrated but is under appeal from the uncertainty and bureaucratic nightmare of constantly yo-yoing in and out of the compulsory work-related activity group.

Disabled families are more likely to be lone Pparent families, often because one partner leaves because of the child’s disability. The lone parent with the courage to stay and take responsibility deserves the state’s full backing and support – not the risk of sanctions.

Alexandra Kemp is Chief Executive of West Norfolk Women and Carers’ Pensions Network.

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