One-legged man labelled by officials as ‘fully disabled and unfit for work’ is told to get a job or lose his benefits

• Richard Jones, 41, has been on benefits since accident 13 years ago

• Dyslexic father-of-four says disabilities make him unemployable

• Told he must do ‘work related-activities’ or lose his benefits

• Comes weeks after he was confirmed as unfit to work 

Warning: Richard Jones, 41, was told he must complete ‘work-related activities’ or face having his benefits suspended

 

A man who lost his leg in an accident has been told he has to get a job just weeks after being told  he was ‘fully disabled and unfit for work’.

Richard Jones, from Barrow, Cumbria, has been on benefits since 2000 when he suffered a shattered pelvis, damage to his spinal cord, and reduced use of his right arm.

Then in 2008 he was involved in a biking accident in which he broke his tibia and fibula then two years later had to have his right leg amputated.

In February, the Department for Work and Pensions told him he could keep his benefits.

 
But this week he has been told he has to complete ‘work-related activities’ or face having his benefits suspended.

‘That letter from the Department for Work and Pensions dated February 8 says I’m fully disabled and unfit for work,’ he said, ‘so why are they now saying just six weeks later that I have to be looking for work when clearly I can’t?’

The father-of-four said his disabilities – combined with dyslexia that renders him unable to read or write – made him unemployable.

He said he never knew from one day to the next whether he was able to fit his prosthetic leg, be reliant on crutches or even his wheelchair for mobility.

‘If I could work I would, but I can’t do anything,’ he said. ‘It’s not just me, I know of other people that have been struck off.

‘There’s a man down the road who’s being struck off now and he’s got cerebral palsy and can hardly walk, has a crook hand and he’s being forced to work.’

Disabilities: He had to have his right leg amputated in 2010 following a motorcycle accident. He was confirmed as ‘fully disabled’ and ‘unfit to work’ just six weeks ago

The charity Scope has described the government’s Personal Independence Payment reforms as ‘fundamentally flawed’ and will adversely impact on an estimated 600,000 people nationally.

‘In 2013, disabled people are struggling to make ends meet,’ Scope chief executive Richard Hawkins said.

‘Life costs more if you’re disabled. But this year living costs are spiralling and income is flat-lining. Disability Living Allowance needs reforming and could be better targeted to meet the extra costs people face,’ he added, ‘but disabled people are frightened by the government’s plans.

‘They believe it’s just an excuse to cut their support.’

 

Tough: Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Iain Duncan Smith has made it tougher to claim disability benefits

 

A spokesman for the DWP said it does not comment on individual cases.

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