Hardest Hit report: Proposed welfare cuts will have 'devastating impact'

Hardest Hit campaigners take to the streets last year Credit: ITV News Wales

Proposed welfare cuts by the UK Government could 'push some of Wales' most vulnerable people into hardship, debt and isolation'.

That's the warning from The Hardest Hit - a coalition of over 90 disability organisations and charities.

Their report 'The Tipping Point' is published today, bringing together a survey of over 4,500 disabled people, a poll of more than 350 independent welfare advisers and more than 50 in-depth interviews with disabled people with varying conditions and impairments.

Of those who responded from Wales:

  • Nearly all (97%) said losing their Disability Living Allowance (DLA) would be bad for their health

  • More than nine in ten (92.3%) said losing DLA would make them isolated

  • Nine in ten (89.6%) said losing their DLA would make them more reliant on friends and carers

  • Three-quarters (74.6%) fear they will not qualify for the new Personal Independence Payment, which is due to replace DLA from April 2013

A fifth of the respondents currently receive social care from their local authority, but three-quarters (72.7%) said losing their DLA would mean relying on local authorities for more social care.

Responding, the Minister for Disabled People Esther McVey said: