30 June 2021 Campaigns
After years of campaigning alongside our colleagues at Marie Curie in Northern Ireland, the Association is delighted to welcome today’s announcement from the Department for Communities that provisions under the Special Rules for Terminal Illness (SRTI) will be changed.
Announced by Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey, the plans include scrapping the 6-month rule and extending it to 12 months. The changes will apply to each of the five benefits where the Special Rules exist.
The Minister plans to bring forward legislation within the current Assembly mandate to bring about the changes.
The Association has long campaigned for the removal of the unfair 6-month rule, that requires people with a terminal illness to prove they have 6 months or less to live in order to access the Special Rules fast-track process for benefits. We believe these changes will make a big difference to those with complex and unpredictable terminal illnesses such as MND, where providing an exact prognosis is impossible. The changes will allow more people living with MND in Northern Ireland to access the benefits they need quickly and sensitively.
We will now monitor how these plans progress in Northern Ireland and will continue to campaign for a change to the 6-month rule in England and Wales.
We would like to take the opportunity to thank our supporters and campaigners in Northern Ireland who have campaigned tirelessly to Scrap 6 Months, first securing cross-party support for change and who have now secured a ministerial commitment to change.
Commenting on today’s announcement, Head of Policy and Campaigns Susie Rabin said:
“This new ruling is really positive news for those people in Northern Ireland who need fast and sensitive access to vital support from the welfare system. However, there is now a real disparity in access to benefits across the United Kingdom for people with terminal illness. This needs changing now to ensure no one has to suffer the indignity of a long, drawn out claims process.
We have been waiting two years for the publication of a review – that’s two years in which people have been dying without the financial support they desperately need. We need the Department for Work and Pensions to act right now, publish the review and scrap the outdated and frankly inhumane six month rule.”