ACT NOW speech in House of Lords tomorrow.

12th September 2011

Tomorrow the Welfare Reform Bill has its second reading in the House of Lords. ACT NOW was contacted by Jonathan Rutherford (who has been working closely with Baroness Anna Healy) and asked if there were two amendments to the Bill that we felt would make a difference to adults living with autism. We were also asked if there was anything in particular relating to the Bill that we would like Baroness Healey to speak about during tomorrow’s debate. 

ACT NOW has helped to draft a speech which Baroness Healy intends to make in the House of Lords during the session tomorrow. We have grave concerns about Employment Support Allowance and in particular about "claimant responsibilities" as well as our ongoing concerns about the need for better, clearer communication from JobCentre Plus/DWP and advocacy.

We understand that due to the volume of people who have requested to participate in tomorrow’s debate that the speech might have to be shortened but we are delighted that Baroness Healy has agreed to raise some of the concerns that we have about Employment Support Allowance during tomorrow’s debate. 

ACT NOW (Autism Campaigners Together) Core Group