2025: Week 10 - Welfare, Disability and Communities

The big news of the week has been Liz Kendall outlining the Government’s plans for welfare spending, including disability benefits.  I was shocked to hear that under these plans thousands of disabled people and those with long term health conditions face large reductions to their benefits, at a time when more people than ever are struggling financially. 

If the Government was serious about cutting welfare spending it would get serious about fixing health and social care and the broken Department of Work and Pensions. That is why it has been so disappointing to see the Government’s lack of urgency in this area, putting their social care review on a three-year timeline, kicking projects like new hospitals into the long grass, and still no overhaul of the Department. Until that changes, no meaningful drop in the welfare bill will arrive, and the misery that people are suffering will continue.

We have to bring the welfare bill down and support more people into work - it’s what is right for people and our economy. But you don’t do that by slashing support for disabled people - some of whom will never be able to work, while others need PIP precisely so that they can continue to work. Limiting eligibility for these people will do nothing to get more people into employment.

If the Government wants to boost finances quickly, they could be asking the banks, big tech and online gambling firms to pay a bit more out of their massive profits, rather than going after people with disabilities.

Closer to home, in a shocking revelation, South West Water (SWW) has confirmed that the foul sewerage system in the Wolborough area of Newton Abbot is inadequate to support the new homes planned for the NA3 development.  According to SWW, it would take until 2030 to upgrade the system, with an additional 18 months required for completion.  This delay could halt housing approvals in the area for the next five years. 

Not only is this an example of developers putting profits above community welfare by not prioritising essential infrastructure before building houses, it also highlights a lack of clarity from water companies regarding their existing infrastructure. Prior to this admission, SWW has always maintained their infrastructure has adequate capacity to deal with any new developments being built, as they are responsible for upgrading when it is necessary.  We now have confirmation from them that this is not the case in the Wolborough development, and significant upgrades will be required in order for the development to successfully go ahead. 

This also shines a spotlight on the Government’s plans to build 1.5 million new homes; it’s not enough to just loosen planning laws to expediate this, there needs to be legislation brought in to ensure that local infrastructure is committed to with new developments and all stakeholders (including utility companies) are engaged from the start of the planning process.