PEOPLE living in Bolton on legacy benefits have been refused a £20 per week ‘lifeline’ that people on universal credit got when the pandemic hit in March, according to a group representing more than 100 disability organisations.

The Disability Benefits Consortium (DBC) said more than 306,000 people living in the North West on benefits such as employment and support allowance and jobseekers allowance, are among almost two million people across the UK who have been denied  emergency funding, with many left struggling to cover food and fuel costs for the last eight months.

The consortium, a network of more than 100 organisations, including the MS Society, Z2K, Disability Rights UK and Inclusion London, said they had written multiple times to express concerns to  chancellor Rishi Sunak, but not received a reply.

Last week the DBC handed the Chancellor a 119,000-signature-strong ‘Don’t Leave Disabled People Behind’ petition, calling on the government to stop discriminating against disabled people.

They said that in last week’s spending review, it was announced that people on legacy benefits would be getting little more than a 37p a week increase in line with inflation.

Anastasia Berry, policy manager at the MS Society and policy co-chair of the DBC, said: “We welcomed the government decision to give people on Universal Credit an extra £20 per week to help them survive the financial impact of the pandemic.

“But shamefully they failed to provide the same level of support to the two million people on legacy benefits.

“The Government say they are ‘wrapping their arms around the public’ but it’s clear from last week’s spending review they don’t reach far enough to support some of the most vulnerable.

“Refusing to acknowledge the financial challenges disabled people are facing by only granting them an additional 37p a week, in line with inflation, frankly is an insult and hypocrisy at its finest.”

A spokesman for the Department of Work and Pensions said: “We are wholly committed to supporting people on lower incomes and have paid out more than £100bn in welfare support this year. The £20 increase to Universal Credit continues to be in place until the end of March 2021.”