Disability History Month

Allwell Uwazuruike; Andrew Mackley; Andy Powell; Brigid Francis-Devine; Cassie Barton; David Foster; Harriet Samuel; Joanna Dawson; Nerys Roberts; Sonja Stiebahl; Suzanna Hinson

Documents to download

Supporting documents
- Disability statistics for Disability History Month debate (197 KB , PDF ) (197 KB , PDF)

Disability History Month (DHM) is an annual event that celebrates the history, contributions, and struggles of disabled people. A motion marking the first Disability History Month was tabled in the House of Commons on 10 November 2010 and signed by 79 MPs. The motion read:

That this House welcomes the first ever Disability History Month that recognises the history of the struggle for equality and human rights; notes that in running from 22 November until 22 December 2010 it will cover International HIV/AIDS Day, International Day of People with Disabilities and International Human Rights Day; calls on schools, colleges, universities, local authorities, employers, the public and the media to recognise and celebrate the first UK Disability History Month; encourages them to campaign to improve the unequal position of disabled people in society and work with disability charities and trade unions in the struggle for equality and inclusion; urges the Government to ensure that its policies and latest spending cuts are properly assessed in terms of their impact on people with disabilities so that they do not exacerbate existing inequalities; and looks forward to this month and future years of Disability History Month success.

DHM has historically taken place between the months of November and December. In 2024, the event will be marked from 14 November to 20 December. A range of organisations including universities, local councils, and voluntary groups take part in planning and running events around DHM. Organisations that have announced activities for this year’s edition of DHM include the Cambridge City Council, University of Manchester, and University College London.

There is an annual theme for each year’s DHM. The theme for 2024 is Disability, Livelihood and Employment. A dedicated website provides a point of focus for DHM events and resources. The website identifies Richard Rieser, managing director of World of Inclusion, as the coordinator of UK DHM.

Adult social care

Around a third (35%) of people who received local authority funded long-term adult social care services in 2023/24 were aged 18 to 64.

Net expenditure on long-term social care support for adults aged 18-64 was around £9.6 billion in 2023/24, over half (55%) of all local authority net spending on long-term social care. 68% of this expenditure (£6.6 billion) was on learning disability support and 18% (£1.7 billion) was on physical support (source: NHS, Adult Social Care Activity and Finance Report, England, 2023-24, October 2024, tables T19 and T20).

In a report published in November 2024, The forgotten story of social care, the County Councils Network (CCN) said that caring for working age and lifelong disabled adults is one of the “most important and rewarding responsibilities for councils” but their “forgotten needs and challenges are constantly overlooked in the debate on reforming adult social care.” A CCN spokesperson suggested the government’s proposed National Care Service (see below):

risks being an empty slogan for councils and care users alike unless it is backed with renewed focus on working age adults, and significant increase in funding for councils to meet rising costs and ensure the quality and safety of support is maintained.

In its manifesto for the 2024 general election, the Labour Party said it would “undertake a programme of reform to create a National Care Service, underpinned by national standards” and with a “principle of ‘home first’”. It added this would include exploring “how to best support working age disabled adults” (p101). The government has said it will “will set out next steps for a process that engages with adult social care stakeholders, including people with lived experience, in due course.”

The previous government’s plans for wider social care reform were set out in a white paper published in December 2021, People at the Heart of Care, and in a subsequent policy paper published in April 2023, Next steps to put People at the Heart of Care.

Disability benefits

Certain social security benefits are designed to support disabled people with their broader needs. There are broadly three types of disability benefit in the UK social security system:

1. Extra-costs disability benefits

These benefits are designed to cover the extra costs of people who have daily living and/or mobility needs as a result of a disability or health condition. Eligibility for these benefits is not based on a person’s specific health condition or diagnosis; rather it is based on how their health condition or disability affects their functional ability to carry out a series of every-day activities. Extra-costs disability benefits include:

Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for families with disabled children in England, Wales and Northern Ireland; and/or Child Disability Payment (CDP) which has replaced DLA in Scotland for new claims.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) for disabled working-age adults in England, Wales and Northern Ireland; and/or Adult Disability Payment (ADP) which has replaced PIP in Scotland for new claims.

Attendance Allowance for people over State Pension age in the UK who have attention or supervision needs, which is currently being replaced in certain areas of Scotland by Pension Age Disability Payment. These benefits are intended to help with the extra costs of care only, however, and have no mobility components, unlike DLA, CDP, PIP, and ADP.

2. Income replacement benefits

These benefits are for people whose capability for work is limited because of a health condition or disability, whether physical or mental. They consist of:

Means-tested support through Universal Credit (UC), specifically the additional Limited Capability for Work-Relative Activity element. UC has replaced the means-tested version of Employment and Support Allowance (known as income-related ESA) for new claims.
Contribution-based benefits, specifically ‘New Style’ Employment and Support Allowance’ (ESA), which is not means-tested and eligibility for which is instead based on a person’s National Insurance contribution record over the previous 2-3 years. If a person receives a workplace pension over a certain amount it will reduce, or even extinguish completely, a person’s entitlement to New Style ESA. But in general, contributory benefits are not affected by other income, or savings, a person has.

3. Compensation following a work-related accident or illness

The main benefit in this category is Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB). This is a non-means-tested, tax-free, non-contributory benefit payable to people who have become disabled as a result of an accident at work, or because of one of over 70 prescribed diseases known to be a risk from certain jobs. The scheme only covers employees or those who were on an approved employment training scheme or course when the accident or event happened. The self-employed are excluded. IIDB will eventually be replaced in Scotland by Employment Injury Assistance.

Total expenditure on benefits in Great Britain to support people with health conditions is forecast to be £90 billion in 2024/25. Spending on extra-costs disability benefits is forecast to be £41 billion, and spending on income-replacement benefits is forecast to be £29 billion.

In the Autumn Budget on 30 October 2024, the government announced that it would “set out reforms to the health and disability benefits system early in 2025 to ensure the system supports people who can work to remain in or start work, in a way that is fair and sustainable” (para. 3.45). Further detail of what these reforms will involve has not yet been published.

Disability statistics

Please see the attached document for statistics covering disability and education, employment, the financial costs of disability, housing, poverty, and mental health.