Green Party Questions Telford and Wrekin Council
On Thursday, July 17th, the Telford and Wrekin Council held its second-to-last full council meeting of the year. The Green Party members, along with the Executive Committee of Telford and Wrekin Green Party, saw this as a prime opportunity to raise a pressing issue: the cuts to disability benefits. They aimed to put a formal question at the meeting to urge the council to stand against these detrimental cuts, similar to actions taken by other councils, and to advocate for their reversal.
The Question
"Despite the perceived U-turn on disability welfare plans, there is still widespread condemnation from many councils, public bodies, and 86 charities. Will the Council commit to opposing the disability welfare cuts and advocate for their reversal to protect our local services, budgets, and our vulnerable residents?"
This question had to be submitted by noon on July 7th, limited to 50 words, and the total time for both the question and the council's response was capped at just two minutes. The question was directed to the Leader of the Council, Labour Councillor Lee Carter.
Despite submitting the question ten days in advance, the group received no confirmation until they followed up themselves just two days before the meeting. Not an auspicious start!
A Ray of Hope
Upon arriving, I had informed Democratic Services that I would need assistance and a carer. Our small group, consisting of myself, Gillian, Andréa, and Pat, was greeted warmly by the security team and a member of the Democratic Services Team. It seemed our reputation had preceded us, and the council staff went out of their way to ensure we were comfortably seated in the public gallery of the council chamber, which had a modern design that sparked a glimmer of hope.
However, as the meeting progressed from prayers to statements, our optimism began to wane. The audio system was dreadful. As someone who is "deafened," I rely heavily on lip reading, sign language, and subtitles. I turned to Andréa, then to Gillian and Pat, who all confirmed that the audio was nearly useless for them too.
I had hoped that the modern setup, complete with numerous TV screens, would include live subtitling, but my hopes were dashed when I saw no subtitles appearing. We resorted to a mix of sign language, whispered comments, and typing on our phones, settling into a role of passive observers. My last hope was that some speakers would look up while talking, allowing me to lip-read. Unfortunately, everyone spoke from their notes, keeping their faces down and making it impossible to follow along.
As frustration mounted, and unable to follow proceedings, I spent some time pointing out who was related to whom, and how, and Andréa remarked on how disheartening it was to witness the state of English democracy, likening it to local American government but "with a more polite accent."
Then, unexpectedly, a member of Democratic Services approached me with a microphone, indicating that my name had been called to read our question. Surprised, I took the microphone and delivered our question.
Afterward, several attendees commented that I was the only speaker that night who was clear and confident enough to be heard over the poor audio system. But I digress.
To our dismay, Councillor Lee Carter did not respond directly. Instead, he delegated the task to Councillor Middleton, the cabinet member for Public Health and Healthier Communities. This was concerning, as she lacked the authority to fully commit the council to our request. Like previous speakers, she struggled to project her voice through the inadequate audio system. Andréa attempted to assist by recording her response and adding subtitles for me to review later, but by the time I got to see it, Councillor Middleton had already run out of time and sat down.
For those interested, I will include the full transcript of her response below as an appendix.
From what I gathered through Andréa's subtitles, Councillor Middleton seemed to regurgitate the national government's standard response. For a detailed breakdown of her misleading statements, and my response please follow the link here.
With little understanding of the proceedings, when the Chair called for a break, we decided to leave. Once again, the Democratic Services team and security were incredibly helpful in escorting us back to the reception area.
We discussed the poor audio quality and lack of subtitling, and were informed that while they had experimented with live subtitling, it had not been successful and thus was not implemented.
As we exited the building, a Conservative councillor complimented our question and performance, which was encouraging.
After returning home, I promptly emailed Councillor Middleton, expressing my inability to comprehend her response and requesting a written copy. As of now, 5 days later she has yet to acknowledge my request, let alone fulfill it.
In light of Councillor Middleton's lack of response, I reached out to Democratic Services to request a transcript of her reply. They confirmed they would provide it, but not until Monday—four days after her verbal response!
This situation highlights a significant issue of ableism within our local governance, as it seems that the needs of those with disabilities are not being adequately addressed.
I feel hugely disappointed with both Councillor Carter and Councillor Middleton for their lack of engagement which shows pure contempt for those they claim to serve, and their failure in offering genuine support and protection for our vulnerable residents.
Appendix 1
Transcript of the response to our question by Cllr Middleton
"As part of the Welfare Reform Bill (Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill) the Government have during the passage of the Bill listened and reviewed the impact on people receiving various benefits in order to ensure the balance of need and ensure an equitable system to support people with varying needs to live as independently as possible.
The specific impact on people in Telford would depend on how these national proposals are implemented locally and how they interact with existing local services and support systems. It's important for individuals in Telford to stay informed about these changes and to participate in any consultations or opportunities to make their voices heard. We will be reviewing our own discretionary welfare support and hardship policies and working with local voluntary sector partners to ensure people are supported if there is a change to their benefits”.
Information from Gov Website
• New welfare legislation to ensure there are robust protections in place to support the most vulnerable and severely disabled.
• Nearly 4 million households to benefit from uprating of Universal Credit standard rate, the largest, permanent real-terms increase to basic out of work support since 1980, according to the IFS.
• More than 200,000 people with most severe, lifelong conditions to be protected from future reassessment for Universal Credit entitlement.
• 13-week period of financial support for those affected by PIP changes as part of upcoming welfare reforms.
• Comes alongside £1 billion employment support package that will unlock opportunity and grow the economy as part of the Plan for Change.
The Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill will provide 13-weeks of additional financial security to existing claimants affected by changes to the PIP daily living component, including those who their lose eligibility to Carers Allowance and the carer’s element of Universal Credit.
The 13-week additional protection will give people who will be affected by the changes time to adapt, access new, tailored employment support, and plan for their future once they are reassessed and their entitlement ends.
This transitional cover is one of the most generous ever and more than three times the length of protection provided for the transition from DLA to PIP.
This government inherited a broken social security system, with costs spiralling at an unsustainable rate and millions of people trapped out of work. The case for change is stark:
• Since the pandemic, the number of PIP awards has more than doubled – up from 13,000 a month to 34,000 a month. That is around 1,000 people signing on to PIP every day – that is roughly the size of Leicester signing up every year.
• The surge has been largely by driven by a substantial increase in the number of people who report anxiety and depression as their main condition. Before the pandemic (in 2019), 2,500 people a month were awarded PIP for these conditions, this has more than tripled to 8,200 a month in 2023.
• Almost 1 million young people – 1 in 8 - are not in education, employment or training.
• 1-in-10 people of working age are now claiming a sickness or disability benefit.
• Without reform, the number of working age people on disability benefits is set to more than double this decade to 4.3 million.
• Spending on working age disability and incapacity benefits is up £20 billion since the pandemic and is set to increase by almost that much again by the end of this Parliament, to a staggering £70 billion a year.
That’s why, through the introduction of this Bill; the government is fixing our broken social security system so it supports those who can work to do so while protecting those who cannot - putting welfare spending on a more sustainable path to unlock growth as part of our Plan for Change".
Click this link to see my detailed response
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