Disabled people 'to lose £9bn from cuts'

Disabled people will be "pushed even further backwards" in society as they feel the brunt of more than £9bn in welfare cuts over the next five years, a leading think-tank has warned.

The Government's proposed benefit reforms will see 3.5 million disabled people lose about £9.2bn of critical support by 2015, a report from Demos claims.

Plans to move disabled people on to jobseeker's allowance will account for half of these losses, it says.

The report, called Destination Unknown, says the reforms will leave more disabled people trapped in long-term unemployment – costing the taxpayer more than at present.

Demos warns that by 2015, families with disabled children could lose more than £3,000 each, and disabled adults whose partner is a full-time carer could lose about £3,000.

Kitty Ussher, director of Demos, said: "The emerging evidence from recent years is that the only way to get those furthest from the labour market back into work is through individual client-led support.

"Cutting the welfare bill is attractive to government in the current climate, but without better support for individuals it threatens to just exclude people further."