Disabled people excluded from work by ‘disabling systems’

More than half of Camden’s disabled residents are economically inactive, a new report has revealed.

It comes as the government signals that controversial “radical reforms” of welfare payments will be introduced in the spring.

On Tuesday, councillors met to mull over local data on health and work outcomes for disabled people, presented in the report: “How Camden’s Health and Care System supports Disabled residents.”

This included the large gap between the 15 percent of non-disabled residents who are out of work versus 57 percent of disabled people.

The report also found 31 percent of disabled residents said they were in “bad or very bad health”, compared to just one percent of the non-disabled population.

Director of adult social care, Chris Lehmann, said the council had tried not to “put a label” on disability when developing the report.

“This is very much about how we as a system are able to respond to the needs of any residents, [and] make sure our world is more accessible to people overall,” she said.

Conservative leader Cllr Steve Adams (Frognal) said he was “terrified” by the census data used in the report, which found that 15 percent of Camden residents — and 24 percent of UK citizens — consider themselves as having a disability.

“It seems an immense problem — not just for Camden, but for the country — if almost a quarter of people in the country are disabled,” he said.

But Colin Brummage of Camden Disability Action suggested that, rather than dwelling on what is alarming about the figures, disability should be looked at as “part of the natural human experience”, which is determined by “disabling systems”.

Camden Council believes in the “Social Model of Disability”, an alternative model developed in the last four decades as a radically different understanding compared to the traditional medical view.

It states that, while people have impairments and long-term conditions, the “oppression, exclusion and discrimination people with impairments face is not an inevitable consequence of having an impairment”, but a product of how society is organised.

“Put simply, disability is seen as something that is done (unnecessarily) by a society that does not include disabled people,” the report adds.

The local data comes as the national conversation around support for disabled people and other welfare recipients has become increasingly fraught.

Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall notably drew ire last week after she suggested some people on incapacity benefits were “taking the mickey”.

Her comments fuelled concern from campaigners who were already alarmed by the government’s suggestion that it would stick to the previous Conservative administration’s plans to reform work capability assessments — despite these being found unlawful by a High Court judge.

Rachel Reeves has committed to keeping the Tories’ planned £3bn in cuts to disability benefits, and it was reported that the government had also set its sights on overhauling personal independence payments, which cover some of the extra costs of disability.

A recent report from the Department of Work and Pensions found nearly half of health and disability claimants felt they would never be able to work again, while 44 percent of people with a mental health condition anticipated they could in future if their health improved.

Kendall told ITV: “I think what the survey shows today is that despite all the myths, a lot of people who are currently on sickness or disability benefits want to work.”

Camden Council, Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee, Tuesday, 11 February 2025. Agenda. Webcast.

Please support The Fitzrovia News. Consider helping us cover our costs by visiting our secure payment page.