1,278 disabled local children vulnerable to cuts

Fears have been expressed that widespread cuts to welfare benefits will hit vulnerable local families the hardest after it was revealed that the Southern Trust has the greatest number of disabled children in the North.

By The Newsroom

Published 1st Apr 2016, 14:41 BST

Updated 2nd Apr 2016, 08:27 BST

According to the latest figures released by the Department of Health, there are 1,278 children registered with a disability in the Southern Trust area, which includes the Dungannon District.

Belfast trust had the next highest figure at 881, while the Western Trust had the lowest at 706.

According to the department, all of the disabled children have a designated key worker.

Currently, Westminster is making huge savings in social security by overhauling disability benefits.

According to research carried out by the Guardian newspaper into the effects of George Osborne’s austerity measures, poor families that have a disabled adult or child lose perhaps five times as much proportionally as better-off able-bodied families. However, Health Minister Simon Hamilton has announced new funding to help disabled families.