The Green Paper's Shadow: Could More Scottish Families Face Hardship?

While the UK's health and disability Green Paper consultation is primarily focused on England and Wales, I feel it will significantly impact Scotland due to devolved benefits and the potential for funding reductions from the UK government.

As someone currently receiving Adult Disability Payments and the LCWRA (health element) of Universal Credit, I'm very worried about how/when these proposed changes will affect me.

How Scotland may mitigate these changes is questionable, but the Scottish government might need to decide whether to replicate the changes to PIP (now Adult Disability Payment in Scotland, or ADP) or to find additional funds from elsewhere in the Scottish budget, which, of course, could potentially impact other benefits or services. Additionally, changes to the Universal Credit health element, which is reserved by the UK Government, will also apply here in Scotland. These changes to the health element include the removal of the Work Capability Assessment. The Scottish government will need to determine how this impacts access to the health-related component of Universal Credit, especially for ADP recipients, like myself.

More worryingly, I have concerns regarding the proposed employability support. The changes announced in the Green Paper may lead to an increased demand for employability support, as more people may be encouraged to seek work after being affected by changes to health-related benefits. The changes could lead to a reduction in benefits and potentially push disabled people further into poverty, impacting their health outcomes, dignity, and freedom of choice. This will undoubtedly push more families into poverty and hardship. The changes will put further strain on services already facing pressure, particularly those that provide support to disabled people.

The Scottish government has devolved powers over social security, but some benefits, like Universal Credit, are reserved to the UK government, creating a complex relationship between the two levels of government. This produces a period of uncertainty whilst both the Scottish and UK governments make sense of what these changes will mean in Scotland, and will undoubtedly lead to more worry for claimants north of the border.

In conclusion, I feel that while the Green Paper is primarily focused on England and Wales, the changes it proposes will have significant repercussions for disabled people and the Scottish government.