Page 10 - CL winter 2023 for web

cost of living
Cuts are a choice, not a necessity
On top of rising costs of living, austerity measures are being
mooted, while the social safety net frays away. The government
should fix the problems once and for all, says journalist Mary O’Hara
hen it Local government budgets, social
comes to care and community services were
the impact slashed year after year.
of the The cuts were coupled with harsh
rising cost and impenetrable changes to the
of living, benefits system, including sanctions
WJoe Powell that repeatedly denied people and
does not mince his words: “Any their families financial and other
time there’s going to be a crisis, support to which they were entitled.
people with learning disabilities will Over the past decade, research
be among the first to be affected.” has shown the degree to which
Powell, the chief executive of the fallout of austerity has landed
charity All Wales People First and a on the shoulders of people with
self-advocate, highlights the learning disabilities and on
negative effects that years of the carers and services that
austerity have inflicted on people provide support.
with learning disabilities in the UK.
Now, with unprecedented hikes in Loss of care and consequences
energy, food and other bills and For example, a paper published in
billions of pounds of further cuts to 2021 by Professor Rachel Forrester-
public spending being mooted, he Jones and colleagues at the
worries the UK has entered University of Kent explored its
“uncharted territory”, which could impact in England.
put even more pressure on people, Interviews with 150 people with
their families and the system learning disabilities showed that 42
supposed to support them. per cent of them had lost care
More cuts are the opposite of because of austerity policies.
what is needed, Powell argues. The “Social activities and
social safety net is now so opportunities that represent some
threadbare it is not a net at all and, level of independence and
if we are not careful, the mistakes achievement for individuals were
of the past are about to be repeated. also squeezed due to reduced care,”
Back in 2010, the warning signs the authors wrote.
were clear. The public was told in Stress and anxiety rose because
no uncertain terms to expect years of worries around being reassessed
of devastating cuts under the guise for benefit eligibility. Three-
of economic necessity in the wake quarters of the sample (74.8%)
of the global financial crisis. What were scored as having “clinically
followed was a wave of austerity. significant anxiety”.
As documented in my 2014 book In earlier research in 2018, this
Austerity Bites, this constituted an time looking at international
avoidable set of devastating policies studies, Forrester-Jones concluded
and actions that disproportionately that, while austerity’s effects
affected people with learning were financial, they affected
disabilities and those who support wellbeing hugely. Joe Powell fears the UK
them by radically eroding the Carers were at the sharp end, has entered
“uncharted
safety net. too: “Cuts in disability services territory”
10 Community Living winter 2023 vol 36 no 2
have adversely affected the
wellbeing of both people with
learning disabilities and their
informal carers.”
Now, as the current economic
crisis unfolds, Forrester Jones
cautions that, if steps are not taken,
things could become much worse.
“I don’t think it will be long
before we have people with
learning disabilities homeless if
adequate support isn’t guaranteed
going forward,” she says.
o what should we do?
For a start, we need to
heed the lessons of the
past 12 years. The
Sgovernment’s rationale
that cuts are, once again, an
economic necessity mirrors the
justifications wheeled out back in
2010 by the Conservative-Liberal
Democrat coalition and portends
that, again, the axe is likely to fall
disproportionally on vital services.
As 2023 begins, the UK finds
itself at the epicentre of yet another
financial earthquake. Inflation has
soared, as have household bills. In
November, the Bank of England
warned Britain was on the cusp of
the longest recession since the
1930s. Unemployment is set to soar.
However, the framing of this
calamity as a cost-of-living crisis
suggests an evenly distributed,
unavoidable