Margot James, MP for Stourbridge, attended a meeting with Access in Dudley on Friday 13th January to discuss reforms to disability benefits.
Access in Dudley is a user led disability group who lobby local companies and the council to make them aware of problems faced by disabled people.
Margot, along with other local MPs, answered questions from members of the group on their concerns regarding the reforms to Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Employment & Support Allowance (ESA) and the assessment system for these benefits. Margot wanted to assure the group that the government is implemented necessary reforms with a view to ensuring that the system operates fairly.
Margot said “DLA has always been based purely on self assessment and has never been assessed since its introduction almost twenty years ago. The new system for assessing need will take account of what sort of work people can do, rather than assuming that a disability automatically assumes people are not able to contribute to society through work of some kind, the new Personal Independence Plan will target support towards people who need most help. The meeting was very helpful it was important to hear the opinions of people with disabilities directly rather than through an intermediary organisation.”