Green Councillor Angela Argenzio, Chair of the Adult Health and Social Care Committee today called on Sheffield City Council to track the impact on vulnerable local people of the Labour Government cuts to Welfare Benefits
Councillor Argenzio said,
“Government cuts to welfare benefits are bound to have a negative impact on people with disabilities. In addition to the welfare cuts, we have to consider the impact on Care Providers of the additional costs to the increases in Employers National Insurance contributions.
“It would be irresponsible to ignore the negative impact of Government policy on local people. Government needs to know how the results of the decisions they make in Westminster affect residents here in Sheffield. That is why I have asked the Council to keep a close eye on the impact of the Labour Government’s decisions, so they can be held accountable. These reductions in funding for those in need will only add to the uncertainty and pressures on Councils like Sheffield. Decisions like this simply create more hardship for people who need support the most.
“The Government clearly prefers to raise funds by taking money from people in the greatest need rather than asking the very wealthy to pay more tax. A 2% tax on assets over £10 million could raise over £24 Billion a year – almost five times the amount Chancellor Rachel Reeves plans to save by slashing welfare for disabled people. That would be a fairer way of addressing the need for more public expenditure than putting the burden on those who can least afford it“
Responding to the Chancellor’s Spring Statement, the Co-Leader of The Green Party, Adrian Ramsay MP, said,
“The Chancellor had a choice today. To rebalance our economy by asking the very wealthiest to contribute more, or to remove vital support from ill and disabled people. That she chose to take from the most vulnerable to balance her books is a damning reflection of how out of touch this government is. It is morally repugnant.”
He continued, “And it’s not just ill and disabled people who will suffer as the Chancellor doubles down on cuts to frontline services. This will weaken our communities and leave us all poorer. Labour once claimed that they were for the many, not the few – it’s clear now that this is no longer the case.”
