Disability charities and campaign groups in Sheffield have criticized the governments proposal to reduce the number of people eligible for additional disability benefits, which would lead to thousands of disabled people being forced to find work.

The plans to reform the Work Capability Assessment announced on 22 November as part of the Autumn Statement will reduce the number of disabled people classed as having a “more severe” incapacity

This means thousands of disabled people will no longer be eligible for additional disability benefits.

Lexy Webster, Marketing Coordinator for the Burton Street Foundation, said that there is a concern that some of their clients may have to reduce the number of hours that they could visit them, because of the planned benefits cut.

She has Autism and ADHD herself and said she chose to work at Burton Street because she wanted to be “part of that conversation.

“Although a lot of our clients are in good support systems with their families and things like that, we don’t anticipate that most of our clients will have issues. But we do have some people who are of higher capacity who could be affected by this.

“It’s going to bring some real issues for people like me and for people like our clients.”

The reforms are part of the government’s plans to get more people who claim benefits into work.

Laura Trott, Chief secretary to the Treasury said: “Ultimately there is a duty on citizens if they are able to go out to work they should. Those who can work and contribute should contribute.”

Ms Webster said: “It makes it sound like these people are sat around, and that these people are not involved because they don’t want to be, and that’s not the case at all.

“There’s a lot of barriers, and there have been for a very long time to people being able to access work and access support with work.”

She added that disabled people who work from home have to “advocate for themselves at quite a high level”, because their employers are not around to see their day-to-day struggles.

“Disabled people are being spoken about. They’re not part of that conversation.”

David Hayes, from the Sheffield branch of Disabled People Against Cuts, (DPAC) told Hallam FM that the reforms would cause “an awful lot of anxiety”.

“If we are unfit for work, then we are unfit for work. Disabled people, like everybody else, just want to get through this cost-of-living crisis.”

According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), around 2.4 million people claim benefits for being unable to work, and that number is expected to rise to 2.8 million by 2028-9. 

The proposed reforms will save the government £1billion a year, while leaving an estimated 370,000 people thousands of pounds worse off.

Tom Walters, of IHS, said: “Of the 370,000 people who will lose out from this reform, the overwhelming majority are expected to nonetheless remain on benefits, just with a lower level of income.”

The Burton Street Foundation provide a range of services and activities for disabled people in Sheffield, supporting around 250 clients every week.