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“Robin Hood in Reverse: How the UK Government Keeps Taking from the Sick and Disabled”(for Forgotten Rights)

It’s 2025. The cost of living is spiralling. Public debt is soaring. Headlines shout ‘we must get people back into work’, ‘we must tighten welfare’, ‘we must be fair to taxpayers’. And yet – the sick and disabled are still treated as the last priority.
Across the UK, when you compare England with the devolved nations, one truth stands out: England gives the least support to people with disabilities. It’s a form of national neglect. To borrow a phrase: this is Robin Hood — except it’s not stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. It’s taking from those who already have almost nothing.

1. The stark difference: England vs Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland

A report by the Nuffield Trust found that “across all types of benefit … the proportion of individuals with a disability in 2021/22 varies with Scotland and Wales having the largest proportion of people living with a disability. However … the rates of people receiving disability living allowance, personal independence payments and attendance allowance is much more variable across the four nations.” Nuffield Trust
In plain English: the need is roughly comparable across England, Scotland and Wales – but England gives less. The report states: “The proportion of recipients is consistently lower in England than in the three other UK countries.” Nuffield Trust

What does that mean in practice?

  • Different nations administer disability-type benefits in different ways (Scotland in particular has its own agency). But the upshot is that more people in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland are getting support.
  • In England, people with disabilities are more likely to be under-supported or left waiting longer.
  • The system design and political choices in England are such that the safety net is weaker.

2. Why the system is failing: the numbers tell a story

According to a Parliament briefing on UK disability statistics: an estimated 16.1 million people in the UK had a disability in 2022-23. That’s about 24% of the population. Research Briefings
Of those, as of February 2024, around 6.9 million people claimed an extra-cost disability benefit in Great Britain (that’s 10.4% of population) — and that figure has grown quickly since the pandemic. Research Briefings

And yet:

  • Spending per claim, waiting times, and support levels vary across the nations.
  • The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) reports that disability benefits spending is forecast to rise from around £39.1 billion in 2023-24 to £58.1 billion in 2028-29. But that growth is due largely to increasing numbers of people claiming, not increasing generosity per person. Office for Budget Responsibility

In other words: volumes are rising because the need is rising — but the support per person is not keeping pace. And in England the gap is the largest.

3. “If this were Robin Hood – we’d have the Sheriff of Nottingham”: the metaphor

If we think of England’s system as a distorted version of the Robin Hood legend, the analogy fits uncomfortably well. Traditionally, Robin Hood steals from the rich and gives to the poor. Here, the sick and disabled are the poor – and the system is taking from them.

  • The government says “we must tighten welfare” while at the same time the cost of being disabled is rising.
  • In Scotland, for example, the benefit system has been reformed to be more responsive (via Adult Disability Payment). In England, eligibility is stricter, the assessments harsher, the system more rigid.
  • The public narrative says: “We cannot sustain high benefit spending.” But behind this is a political choice: cut welfare to the most vulnerable instead of taxing the wealthy more.
  • The “forest” where Robin Hood fought is replaced by the bureaucracy of the benefits system. The Sheriff of Nottingham is replaced by officials, assessors, cuts, delays. The “poor folk” are the disabled who cannot work, or whose costs are prohibitive.

And right now, 2025, it’s plain: something must change.

4. Why England’s choice matters – and why the devolved nations show it could be different

England’s position isn’t simply an accident of geography. It’s the result of policy:

  • England’s benefits are set centrally by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), while devolved nations like Scotland have started to take more control, e.g., Social Security Scotland. The difference in culture and politics is visible.
  • The Nuffield Trust noted: “England falls behind the other countries in providing additional financial support, while Northern Ireland is the most generous.” Nuffield Trust
  • That shows it’s not simply that England has less need – but that England has less support.

If Scotland (and Wales, Northern Ireland) can offer better support, what’s stopping England?

  • The political will: The UK government often emphasises work-incentives, cuts, reform rather than universal sufficiency.
  • The design of assessments and benefit levels: The “daily living” component of benefits like Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is under pressure – and eligibility criteria are tightening.
  • Cost-shifting and waiting: Disabled people often face long waits, appeals, two-tier regimes. The UN’s Special Rapporteur and disability rights bodies have flagged this as a human rights issue. scottishhumanrights.com

5. The human cost – not just numbers

Numbers are cold. But behind them are real people:

  • Disabled people report worse subjective wellbeing, higher anxiety, lower income, more likely to be tenants instead of homeowners. Research Briefings
  • The extra cost of being disabled is huge: medical equipment, therapies, heating, mobility, care. If your benefit barely covers that, you’re left paying more or going without.
  • Delays matter: waiting for a decision means debt, stress, losing independence. The UN report flagged this. scottishhumanrights.com
  • Social isolation, lack of work opportunities, inaccessible transport – it’s all part of the system failing disabled people to enter or stay in work, while also failing to support those who cannot.

When the system treats you as “too sick to work but not sick enough to get full support”, you’re in limbo. And England leaves more people in that limbo than the devolved nations.

6. So what needs to change?

Here are the shifts that could happen — and must, if this blog is to keep pushing for real change:

a) Raise the floor of support, not just tweak the margins
Benefit awards must reflect real living costs for disabled people. If the monthly allowance barely covers extra costs, then the system is failing. The trend of rising claimant numbers shows the pressure. England must benchmark against Scotland and Wales.

b) Simplify and speed up assessments
Delays and complexity inflict harm. The devolved nations have shown more flexible delivery models. England must reduce waiting times, scrap unnecessary bureaucracy, ensure the system treats people with dignity.

c) Recognise the extra cost of disability
It’s more expensive to live with a disability. Governments must recognise that and plug the gap between benefit levels and actual costs. Without that, the idea of “support” is hollow.

d) Shift the narrative – from ‘incentives’ to ‘rights’
Too often, disabled people are portrayed as passive benefit-claimants. Instead, the narrative should focus on rights: the right to an adequate standard of living, the right to participate fully in society.

e) Make England match the best of the devolved nations
If Scotland and Wales can do better, there is no excuse for England to lag. The UK government should learn, benchmark, adopt best practice, and commit to parity or better.

7. Why this is urgent in 2025

The world has changed. Covid-19, long Covid, mental health crises, cost of living, waiting lists – all this interacts with disability and illness.

  • Claimants for disability benefits are not just rising; their profile is changing. According to research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, new claimants are younger and more likely to claim due to mental-health conditions. Institute for Fiscal Studies
  • The OBR forecasts disability benefits as a share of GDP rising — yet we shouldn’t assume that means ‘more support’. It could mean more people, but still lower support per person. Office for Budget Responsibility
  • In a society that claims to value fairness, leaving the sick and disabled behind is increasingly indefensible.

8. The political choice: deprivation by design

This isn’t simply “we don’t have enough money”. It’s a political choice. When budgets are set, when policy priorities are decided, when benefit upratings are frozen or minimal – these are choices.
England may argue it needs to incentivise work, reduce benefit dependency, keep public finances under control. Fine. But the cost of disability is not optional. If you can’t work because of your condition, you shouldn’t be punished financially for it. And the fact that England gives less support than Scotland or Wales suggests that for a large number of people, policy is punishing disability.

9. What you can do – call it out, push for change

For Forgotten Rights readers, this is not abstract. It’s personal. So what can we do?

  • Share stories: real disabled people across England who compare their support to friends/family in Scotland or Wales and see a gap.
  • Lobby: ask MPs why England is trailing behind. Demand that the UK government adopts improvements that devolved governments have already shown possible.
  • Push for transparency: ask for regular comparisons, reports that highlight regional/national differences in outcomes for disabled people.
  • Advocate for rights-based reform: not just ‘how do we save money’, but ‘how do we guarantee dignity’.
  • Use your voice: speak as loudly as the system that treats you like a cost. This is the essence of Forgotten Rights.

10. Conclusion: Time to flip the script

In 2025, we should not be accepting that being disabled means being poor. We should not be accepting that the level of support we receive depends on postcode or politics.
England’s system gives the least amount of its devolved-nation peers. That fact is not coincidental. It is political. It is strategic. It is disgraceful.
If we’re going to see change, then we must treat this like the crisis it is. The sick and disabled in England deserve at least the same floor of support that their neighbours in Scotland or Wales receive. More than that – they deserve a system that treats them with humanity, fairness, respect and dignity.

Robin Hood stole from the rich to give to the poor.
In England today, the rich keep their wealth, the poor struggle – and the sick and disabled pay the price for someone else’s policy decisions.
It’s time to rewrite the story. Forgotten Rights will keep shouting. The sick and disabled will not be forgotten.

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