Published on 5 October 2021
LITRG welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Shaping future support: the health and disability green paper
While LITRG is not a disability organisation, some of the green paper is given over to discussing work and we think the tax and related benefits system is capable of influencing behaviour in this area.
The purpose of our response is therefore to highlight what we see as some current barriers to work in areas such as income tax, VAT, and UC. We make recommendations on where we think rules and practice could be changed to improve incentives, reduce burdens and thus contribute to the Government’s overall objective.
We frame our comments loosely under the four following questions poised in the green paper:
- What more information, advice or signposting is needed and how should this be provided?
- How can we better support young disabled people and people with health conditions who are moving out of education to find appropriate work?
- Universal Credit (UC) has many features, such as the work allowance and taper, that aim to make it easier for people to move into work. How can we ensure that disabled people and people with health conditions are aware of these features, and encourage people to try out work on UC?
- While continuing to focus financial support on people who need it most, how could we more effectively support disabled people with their extra costs and to live independently?
The green paper can be found here.
The LITRG response can be found here.