Help is at hand

OVER the past seven months the government has announced a number of planned welfare reforms which, taken together, will amount to the biggest shake-up to the benefits system in generations.
By The Newsroom
Published 21st Feb 2011, 11:00 BST

This includes replacing means tested benefits such as income support with a new “universal credit”, major reform of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and cuts in housing benefit.

Confused by all the benefits changes? Help is at hand.

Families with disabled children face enormous financial challenges and are more likely to be living in poverty than other families. Many are in receipt of benefits and need to know how these changes will affect them.

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To help parents make sense of what these changes will mean to them, Contact a Family has produced a free guide to Future Benefit Changes available from the Contact a Family Helpline on 0808 808 3555.

The changes proposed by the government to the benefits system will impact on all families with a disabled child. While some of the changes will not take effect for a year or two, others will start to impact from this April – including changes in housing benefit for many private tenants, and a number of tax credit cuts including reduced help with childcare costs.

It is really important that parents with disabled children understand what these changes will mean and that is why we are making our Guide to Future Benefit Changes available to them for free.

While many of the changes proposed will mean cuts in financial help, there is some good news, too. One of the changes being made in April will allow children aged three or above who have a severe visual impairment to start qualifying for the high rate of the DLA mobility component.

Srabani Sen

chief executive, Contact a Family,

City Road

London