Dear Constituent,

Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish, recently met with Macmillan Cancer Support to discuss their new report on the financial impact of cancer entitled ‘Cancer – A Costly Diagnosis?’

The report focusses on people’s individual experiences of the financial impact of cancer and highlights three particular policy areas; the implementation of Universal Credit, the support banks and building societies give people living with cancer and the cost of travel insurance.

To help with the financial impact of cancer Macmillan are asking the Government to introduce the legal requirement of a duty of care to ensure all financial services providers act in the best interests of their customers. The Treasury Select Committee have backed these calls in their recent report looking the support our financial institutions are giving vulnerable people.

Macmillan also say the travel insurance market is stacked against those affected by cancer with many continuously facing disproportionately high costs and some premiums as high as £10,000 for a simple family holiday. Macmillan are calling for regulators to work with the insurance industry to ensure that affordable and appropriate insurance is available to people after a cancer diagnosis by conducting a full market study.

Macmillan is also concerned that Universal Credit is failing to meet the needs of people with cancer, with too many losing out on vital support. Macmillan say that their support line and face-to-face benefit advisors are telling them that Universal Credit can be difficult to apply for, challenging to get the right support and many people face long waits for payments. They are calling for the Government to make it easier for organisations like Macmillan to support people through their claim.

Andrew Gwynne said:

“Dealing with cancer is always going to be very difficult but one element that is often overlooked is the financial impact of living with cancer.

 

“This can move people living with cancer very quickly from a position of relative security to one of financial distress. It is essential that at this difficult time the government and financial service providers provide the appropriate support – at the moment this is too often not the case.

 

“I welcome Macmillan’s report highlighting this issue and will continue to work with them on their campaign to ensure people living with cancer get the right support.”

Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish, is backing a campaign to make the consumption of dog meat in the United Kingdom illegal.

Gwynne joined the World Dog Alliance at an event in Parliament to show his support for the ban.

Whilst the sale and production of dog meat is illegal, consumption is not yet explicitly outlawed. The World Dog Alliance campaigns to ban dog meat consumption in countries around the world.

Andrew Gwynne said:

“When I tell people that dog meat consumption is not illegal in the UK, they are often shocked.

 

“As a dog-lover myself, the idea of anyone eating dogs is very upsetting.

 

“It’s time for the Government to ban dog meat consumption and set a global example.”

 

Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish, today lent his support to 80 charities calling for better support for disabled people.

Gwynne attended the launch event in Parliament for the report ‘Has welfare became unfair?- the impact of changes on disabled people”.

Funded by the Three Guinea’s Trust and commissioned by the Disability Benefit Consortium (DBC), which represent 80 national disability organisations, the research found that changes to the welfare system over the past ten years have left disabled people financially four times worse off than non-disabled people.

They heard that while many people have experienced cuts to their benefits, disabled people have lost on average payments of around £1,200 each year because of changes to the system, compared to an average of £300 for people without a disability.

The research also found that:

• The more disabilities you have the more you lose out, for example someone who has six or more disabilities loses over £2,100 each year on average, whereas someone with one disability loses around £700 each year.
• Households with one disabled adult and one disabled child lose out the most, with average losses of over £4,300 per year.

For disabled people, these benefits provide vital financial support to help them with the extra costs they face and so when it is taken away they do not only lose money, they lose access to transport, their independence, and in some cases, their jobs.

The DBC say that the failure to include disability premiums as part of Universal Credit, and assessment criteria that poorly represents the needs of disabled people are just two examples of the problems that are leaving disabled people worse off.

As part of the research, 50 people living with a variety of conditions were interviewed about their experiences. Andrew Gwynne heard from speakers at the event about some of the issues, including people saying that they did not feel trusted, that they are constantly being challenged and that their word is doubted.

The DBC, which represents disabled people and people with long-term conditions including Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy and mental health is calling on the Government to make urgent improvements to the system to enable a fairer benefits system that works for everyone.

Andrew Gwynne said:

“Our welfare system is supposed to protect and support disabled people but this report shows that all too often it is causing them to lose out on vital support.

 

“This has a terrible impact on their health and wellbeing, in many cases making their condition worse.

 

“I have seen the terrible effects of this system on some of the most vulnerable people in Denton and Reddish, and that’s why I’m supporting the DBC’s recommendations for urgent reform.”

Michael Griffin, Research Lead for DBC and Senior Policy Adviser for Parkinson’s UK, said:

“Thank you to Andrew Gwynne for showing his support at the launch event today.

 

“For the first time, our research has shown just how much disabled people are bearing the brunt of the disastrous changes to welfare.

 

“Many disabled people have not yet even experienced the full extent of the cuts because they are still waiting to be moved over to Universal Credit. However, when this happens there will be a surge in poverty among those who are already at a crisis point.

 

“This is simply disgraceful and cannot be allowed to continue. The Government must make urgent improvements to the application processes and assessment criteria, and resolve the flaws in Universal Credit before more people are denied the support they desperately need to live independently.”