Nearly 28,000 people with disabilities across the Bradford district receive between £20 and £125 a week to help with things like paying for help and getting out of the house.

But under a Government shake-up, more than 5,500 of them could be stripped of benefits – and their independence.

This week, thousands of disabled people gathered in London for a protest against the changes, which include plans to slash 20 per cent of the ‘caseload and expenditure’ for Disability Living Allowance (DLA) Campaigners warn that proposals to scrap it, replacing it with ‘personal independence payments’, while carrying out fresh assessments on claimants, will have a “devastating impact” on people with a range of disabilities.

A Parliamentary motion, calling for DLA changes to be taken out of the Welfare Bill, currently going before Parliament, has raised fears that the allowance will be removed from 20 per cent of claimants – about 5,564 cases in Bradford.

A spokesman for the Disability Alliance, an organisation of self-help groups and charities, says if the new benefit reduces the support people receive – and the number of people who receive it – disabled people risk “losing out on the independence and opportunities non-disabled people take for granted”.

But the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said nearly a quarter of people had not had their claims reviewed for a decade.

Maria Miller, minister for disabled people, says: “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 the new personal independence payment does what it should.”

The DWP has been carrying out consultation with disability groups.

Bradford People First, a support group for people with learning disabilities, has voiced fears that the new payment rate would leave people in poverty and isolation, placing demands on the NHS and local authority at a time of spending constraints. Development worker Ursula Wood says new assessments would be problematic.

“The condition of someone with a physical disability could alter, but when you have a learning disability, that doesn’t change,” she says. “People will be forced to take inappropriate tests and assessments, and may have difficulty communicating their needs.

“There is currently a three-tier system of allowance, but under the new rules this would change to two. People on the lower rate will still need help with making meals and getting out and about, but won’t have the funding if new payments are limited to bare essentials. Without this independence, they will become isolated.”

She adds: “Some of our members live alone and others live in residential care, but they have their independence. They know their needs and are standing up for their rights. They have written their own report in response to this consultation. We hope their views will be taken into account.”

Mike Coatesworth, of Fagley, was confined to a wheelchair after a car accident, and recently suffered a stroke. While he welcomes the allowance shake-up, claiming it has been “open to abuse for far too long”, he is confused about the new rules.

“What has normally been allowed with DLA won’t, in certain circumstances, be allowed under personal independent payments (PIP). The use of adaptations and aids could be taken into account, meaning a wheelchair-user who can freely propel their wheelchair could possibly be seen as not having restricted mobility, which is totally unfair,” he says.

“I receive DLA, and at this stage I don’t know if the new PIP will affect me or not, but I’ve got nothing to hide.

“I think a regular medical assessment should be mandatory, as long as PIP continues to support genuine disabled people.

“Disabled people receive a weekly allowance to get them out and about, even if it’s to the shops or to visit friends and family. If they don’t receive this, some people would be virtually imprisoned in their homes, or it could place extreme hardship on their families to find the money to support them.

“Take away their fully-entitled payments, and genuine disabled people will lose their independence.

“Disabled people aren’t afraid of change as long as it is fair, takes into account their personal needs and the rules can be simply understood.”