Families of children with disabilities beg Liz Truss for bill help and inflation-proof benefits
Desperate families of children with disabilities are begging Prime Minister Liz Truss to increase disability benefits - as a matter of life and death.
Worried parents face huge bills to operate lifesaving equipment.
And while six million families with disabilities will receive an extra £150 from the government this month, many say the amount is an insult.
Kathryn Crockford, 38, mother of two disabled children, full-time carer, says: "We have started rationing hospital appointments because we can't afford to attend. They make us pay to stay alive."
Eighty charities are calling for an energy aid payment of £300, a doubling of the disability allowance by £150 - and for benefits to be increased in line with inflation.
Despite a new energy cap of £2,500 a year, support charity Contact says thousands of families are facing bills of £4,000 to run ventilators and oxygen saturation machines.
Picture:
Taran Hayes)The household incomes of the families of the UK's one million children with disabilities are often lower, with half of the parents giving up work to care for the young. On August 26, 83 charities including Contact, Scope and Together for Short Lives wrote to Ms Truss and then her Tory leadership rival Rishi Sunak asking for an emergency support package. They say they haven't heard back yet.
Today they are asking Ms Truss to announce an immediate increase in disability benefits - along with the energy assistance payment to replace local NHS medical grants.
Amanda Batten, CEO of Contact, says: "While the latest announcement represents welcome support, it does not address the additional energy costs faced by families with children with disabilities due to the use of equipment These costs have skyrocketed since the price cap was raised in April Families are paying nearly £1,600 extra a year to run life-saving equipment and other health-related equipment that cannot be turned off .
Desperate families of children with disabilities are begging Prime Minister Liz Truss to increase disability benefits - as a matter of life and death.
Worried parents face huge bills to operate lifesaving equipment.
And while six million families with disabilities will receive an extra £150 from the government this month, many say the amount is an insult.
Kathryn Crockford, 38, mother of two disabled children, full-time carer, says: "We have started rationing hospital appointments because we can't afford to attend. They make us pay to stay alive."
Eighty charities are calling for an energy aid payment of £300, a doubling of the disability allowance by £150 - and for benefits to be increased in line with inflation.
Despite a new energy cap of £2,500 a year, support charity Contact says thousands of families are facing bills of £4,000 to run ventilators and oxygen saturation machines.
Picture:
Taran Hayes)The household incomes of the families of the UK's one million children with disabilities are often lower, with half of the parents giving up work to care for the young. On August 26, 83 charities including Contact, Scope and Together for Short Lives wrote to Ms Truss and then her Tory leadership rival Rishi Sunak asking for an emergency support package. They say they haven't heard back yet.
Today they are asking Ms Truss to announce an immediate increase in disability benefits - along with the energy assistance payment to replace local NHS medical grants.
Amanda Batten, CEO of Contact, says: "While the latest announcement represents welcome support, it does not address the additional energy costs faced by families with children with disabilities due to the use of equipment These costs have skyrocketed since the price cap was raised in April Families are paying nearly £1,600 extra a year to run life-saving equipment and other health-related equipment that cannot be turned off .
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