A CAMPAIGNER for the rights of seriously ill students has vowed he will ‘not be brushed off’ after being told the Government had no plans for further reform of benefits law.
Ian Leech, from Branston, won his fight for changes to rules which had seen students who suspended their studies due to serious ill health forced to draw on their student loans to support themselves.
But the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has snubbed demands for further reform despite hearing a loophole in the law means some sick students are still slipping through the net.
In a letter to Mr Leech, DWP spokesman Goff Daft said ministers could not allow ‘unfettered access’ to benefits for students and said ministers must balance the need for reform with ‘the need to protect the integrity of the benefit system’.
Mr Daft said: “I appreciate you are trying to address the situation of a very small number of people who find themselves in an extraordinarily difficult and distressing situation.
“I hope you will appreciate, however, that it is extremely difficult to set out in legislation a clear definition of incapacitating illness that would enable us to clearly identify only those who you wish to help.”
Mr Leech, who lost his 20- year-old daughter Melissa to non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2008, says students forced to suspend their studies to battle serious illness should be able to qualify for Employment Support Allowance (ESA) immediately.
At present they can only claim the benefit if they are also eligible for Disability Living Allowance (DLA), which requires recipients to have been ill for three months and for their treatment to be ongoing for a further six months.
Mr Leech said: “When a student is diagnosed with a longterm illness and has to suspend their studies they should be able to receive financial support with immediate effect.
“It’s extremely frustrating but after fighting for four years I’ve got used to this sort of frustration. I will keep hammering at the government for as long as it takes.
“They are not really treating it with the respect it deserves.
Its like a brush-off — but I’m not going to be brushed off.” Mr Leech’s campaign has now won the support of charities Macmillan Cancer Support, the Lymphoma Association, Teenage Cancer Trust and CLIC Sargent.
Lorraine Clifton, chief executive of CLIC Sargent, said: “We are delighted to support Ian’s ongoing work to ensure students with cancer and other illnesses are able to access the financial support they need.
“We have been lobbying the Government to ensure that the welfare reforms currently being taken through Parliament do not disadvantage young people with cancer, including those who are students.”
