THE UK Government will now fast-track benefits for terminally ill people after the SNP campaigned for the move for more than two years.
Following pressure to implement the change, the UK Government announced on Tuesday that it will offer blanket exemptions for the terminally ill to the claimant commitment usually required to be eligible to claim benefits.
The claimant commitment sets out responsibilities for those seeking support, including any work search requirements and a duty to report changes in circumstances.
Those who are terminally ill currently have to accept the same commitments as everyone else, delaying support for those, and their families, at a crucial time in life.
READ MORE: MP urges UK to speed up changes for terminally ill with assisted dying bill
The recent announcement by the UK Government means that as of February 15 terminally ill claimants will no longer have to accept such a commitment, which will streamline the process to access benefits.
The changes will apply to people claiming Universal Credit and Employment and Support Allowance.
The announcement comes after a report from the APPG for Terminal Illness, which Drew Hendry MP chairs, found that energy costs for terminally ill people double when they are at home - and this is before the average household energy bill is set to rise to £2000 a year in April.
Hendry, the SNP MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey, said: "This is a small, but important and welcome change that terminally ill campaigners, organisations such as Marie Curie and MND have worked for over a number of years.
“The all-party parliamentary group (APPG), which I chair, produced a number of papers on the costs and challenges faced by dying people and their families that should have made for difficult reading for the Tory government, such was the suffering involved."
READ MORE: Terminally ill have been ‘failed’ by legislators, says man set to end life early
The Scottish Government has made sure that there is no time definition for terminal illness and access to the highest rate of support in the 2018 Social Security Act.
This was introduced for the Child Disability Payment which was launched in November and will also apply to Adult Disability Payment being phased in from spring 2022.
Hendry added: “The Scottish Government decided, years ago, that this would not apply to social security support under the control of the Scottish Parliament but the UK Government has dithered and delayed as people often died without support.
“The change, at Westminster, has come too late for many thousands who have now passed away, but it is a victory for those campaigners. The pernicious requirement to prove that death will come within 6 months of a terminal diagnosis is to be removed is also good news but, once again, this is delayed.
“As I said in Parliament yesterday [January 24], with the current cost of living crisis and energy costs biting, on average, twice as hard for those diagnosed as terminal, there really is no excuse not to do this right now.
“Each day further that passes risks even more people dying without access to the support that they and their families needed at a crucial time – the UK Government must rectify this now.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel