The Government’s consultation about welfare reform is well underway and the Grace Eyre Ambassadors Team are concerned about some of the proposed changes.
Grace Eyre Ambassadors are people with a learning disability and/or autistic people who receive support from both Grace Eyre and adult social care services. They are volunteers who speak out about what is important to them.
Here are some of the ways the ambassadors are making their voices heard.
Pathways to Work Public Consultation Event
On 20th May 2025, the Grace Eyre Ambassadors attended an online consultation event with Brighton & Hove Speak Out’s Link Group. At the event, there was a direct discussion between the Department for Work & Pensions and people across the country about the proposed benefit changes. The meeting was specifically about the employment part of the Green Paper (Chapter 4).
The ambassadors said that the officials from the Department for Work & Pensions were very good at taking in all the information. However, the group found it frustrating that there are proposed changes that people aren’t being asked about in the consultation.
Pagane Gacheva, Our Voices Coordinator, said:
“Overall I think the meeting was quite impactful and the ambassadors felt confident in speaking up and sharing their experiences. Go co-production!”
Read a recap written by Frances Sulikosky at Speak Out
Welfare Cuts Roundtable
On 23rd May 2025, Pagane Gacheva represented Grace Eyre at a roundtable meeting in Brighton hosted by Sian Berry. Sian Berry is the Member of Parliament for Brighton Pavilion.
At the meeting, they discussed the government’s proposed changes to disability benefits.
Sian Berry is now working on a submission to the Government’s consultation with fellow Green Party members of parliament. The Green MPs are pooling information, concerns and comments from their constituencies with a view to getting drafts ready to submit in good time ahead of the closing date.
Sian Berry says that she will continue to find ways to speak out on this issue, including in the media.
Read Sian Berry’s comment piece in the Argus
Disability Action Brighton Demonstration
Some of the Grace Eyre ambassadors took part in a demonstration on Saturday 7th June 2025. The event was led by Disability Action Brighton, a disabled-led pressure group, and took place at the Clock Tower in central Brighton.
The demonstration aimed to raise awareness about the impacts of the welfare cut and “make people question the motives of how disabled people are seen”.
Read a story about the demonstration in the Argus
Share Your Stories
We need the stories from the people we support as to how the reform might affect them.
An extraordinary meeting has been called by independent and Green Councillors to be held at Brighton & Hove City Council on 23rd June to discuss the Government’s Welfare Reform Green Paper and the impact of this proposed legislation on residents of Brighton & Hove.
Councillors who called for the meeting are keen to ensure that the concerns of the community and advice sector are heard at the meeting. They have invited representatives of organisations to speak at the meeting and Our Voices have registered to attend.
We need you to help put our message across, so please email Emma Willcocks in Our Voices at ewillcocks@grace-eyre.org if you have stories to share from the people we support.
We are looking for:
- data on what people spend PIP and disability benefits on. This will help to evidence that the money received is being used to top up support / used for essential costs and outgoings.
- data on lack of disposable income for disabled people, and any observations / feedback / examples of how proposals may exacerbate this.
- any individual testimonies from caseworkers, or clients, that councillors could reference (anonymised is fine) in any submission they make , or, depending on opportunities in future debates to speak they could draw on.
Having some examples to hand can be quite powerful and statements or testimonies in the words of clients and those supporting them navigating welfare processes would be great.
Have Your Say
The Government’s consultation is open until 30th June 2025.
The time to act is now!