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A damning report has found disabled people are £1,200 a year on average worse off on benefits under the Conservatives.

Research says they have been hit four times harder than non-disabled welfare claimants under cumulative cuts in the system since 2008.

Households with one disabled adult and one disabled child were worst off, with all benefit changes costing them £4,300 a year, according to the study for the Disability Benefits Consortium of 80 organisations.

DBC research chief Michael Griffin, of Parkinson’s UK, said disabled people are “bearing the brunt of the disastrous changes to welfare”.

He added: “This is simply disgraceful and cannot be allowed to continue.

“The Government must make urgent improvements to the application processes and assessment criteria, and resolve the flaws in Universal Credit before more people are denied the support they desperately need to live independently.”

The study looked at a flood of welfare changes introduced since 2008 - including the benefit freeze, benefit cap, Bedroom Tax, Universal Credit and transfers to new benefits ESA and PIP.

The vast majority were pioneered by the Tories after 2010.

It comes after ChronicleLive reported on numerous cases of people with disabilities being denied benefits by the Department for Work and Pensions, with one woman losing her mobility car after undergoing a reassessment.

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Researchers modelled how much less claimants will receive per year by 2021/22, compared with if benefits had continued rising from their level in 2010 without the changes.

On changes to benefits alone, the study said disabled claimants will be £1,200 per year worse off on average by 2021/22, while non-disabled claimants will be £300 per year worse off.

Once Tory tax cuts, National Insurance reforms and changes to gross incomes are factored in, disabled claimants will be £870 per year worse off. But non-disabled claimants will be £288 per year better off on average, the study said.

The study said by 2023 there will be have been £38billion of total cuts in the benefit system - 63% of them shouldered by households with at least one disabled person.

The modelling was carried out by by Landman Economics, and accompanied by 50 in-depth interviews with claimants by the Universities of East Anglia and Glasgow.

Epilepsy sufferer Sinead Webber, 28, said she was denied Personal Independence Payments (PIP) twice despite regular seizures.

The medical secretary from Cullompton, Devon - who won PIP both times through appeals - branded her assessment "harrowing, degrading, intrusive and disheartening".

Sinead, who has fallen on a knife and dropped a pan of boiling water due to seizures, said: "I had to rearrange this assessment three times due to seizures.

"She didn’t seem to grasp the fact I would be having a better day during my assessment.

"I was also marked down for being articulate, which really upset me – essentially I needed to be incapable of speech for them to think I was disabled."

She added: "At times I even contemplated taking my own life."

Shadow Minister for Disabled People Marsha De Cordova said: "This major report is a damning indictment of the government’s assault on disabled people’s social security. According to this research, cuts have shockingly hit disabled people four times harder than non-disabled people.

“And as the report highlights, with many people still to be moved to Universal Credit, there are even more cruel cuts to come for disabled people. The government must urgently stop the roll out before more damage is done.

“The next Labour government will rebuild our social security system, ensuring that disabled people are treated with dignity and respect."

A DWP spokeswoman said: “We know that disabled people and those with health conditions can face higher costs, which is why we’re spending £55 billion this year on benefits to support them – more than ever before.

“Disability benefits are exempt from the benefit freeze and in many cases our reforms mean people will receive more money on average, with one million households gaining an average of £100 more on Universal Credit.”