Up to 5,500 disabled people across Bradford could be stripped of benefits under a little-noticed Government shake-up, campaigners fear.

The scrapping of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) – replacing it with ‘personal independence payments’, while carrying out fresh assessments on claimants – will have a “devastating impact”, they warned.

Ministers have announced they plan to slash 20 per cent from the “caseload and expenditure” for DLA – but without explaining how £2.4 billion will be saved.

Now a Parliamentary motion has raised fears that DLA will simply be removed from 20 per cent of claimants, which would mean about 5,564 cases in Bradford.

There are a total of 27,820 claimants in Bradford, who receive between £20 and £125 a week to help them look after themselves, pay for help and get out of the house.

The Disability Alliance, an organisation of about 250 self-help groups and charities, said: “Any cuts could have a devastating impact."

The motion, tabled by the Welsh Nationalists, called for the DLA changes to be taken out of the Welfare Bill, which is before Parliament.

It warned that 620,000 people – 20 per cent of the 3.1 million DLA claimants – could be “denied support with no justification”, adding: “The Government is yet to make a convincing case for reform.”

But the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) pointed out that nearly a quarter of people had not had their claims reviewed for a decade – while two million received the benefit “indefinitely”.

Maria Miller, the minister for disabled people, said: “Severely disabled people who need extra help and support will always get it.

“We’ve listened to what disabled people and disability organisations have told us and we will be working with them to make sure that the new personal independence payment does what it should.”

  • Read the full story in Wednesday's T&A