We are absolutely appalled that the government held the first reading of the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill on 18 June – twelve days before the public consultation on the proposed changes to the benefits system, as set out in the ‘Get Britain Working’ Green Paper, closes. It signals that the government are not interested in our experiences, feelings, opinions and suggestions.
Summary of the Bill
The Bill proposes the following:
- The Universal Credit Standard Allowance will increase by 2.3% in 2026/27, 3.1% in 2027/28, 4% in 2028/29, and 4.8% in 2029/30.
- The Universal Credit Health Element, which is for people who currently have what the DWP calls ‘Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity’, will be frozen at £97.67 a week until 2030, rather than increasing with inflation.
- For people applying for Universal Credit after April 2026, the Health Element will be only £50.13 a week until 2030, not £97.67 a week, unless the person is expected to die from a progressive condition within the next twelve months, or one of the descriptors which qualifies the person for the Health Element will apply to them for the rest of their life.
- If a person who currently receives the Health Element stops receiving it because they start work, but then stops work within six months, they will start receiving £97.67 a week again. However, if they stop work after six months, and then successfully reapply for the Health Element, they will receive only £50.13 a week.
- To qualify for the Daily Living award of Personal Independence Payment (PIP), a person must still score between 8 and 11 points across the ten descriptors to receive the Standard Rate, and 12 points or more to receive the Enhanced Rate. However, new applicants and existing claimants undergoing a review will now need to score at least 4 points for one of the descriptors, and existing claimants who do not score at least 4 points for at least one of the descriptors when they undergo the review will lose their award after thirteen weeks.
What the Bill Means for Disabled People
Since the ‘Get Britain Working’ Green Paper was published, we have been working hard to gather the views of our service users, members, staff and trustees. There is a clear consensus that freezing and reducing the amount of money for the Universal Credit Health Element, and changing the eligibility criteria for a PIP Daily Living award in the way proposed, will make life more difficult for Disabled people.
Firstly, research from the Joseph Rowntree Association shows that in the UK, working-age Disabled people are already twice as likely as non-Disabled people to live in poverty, and The Trussell Trust reports that 7 in 10 people referred to their foodbanks are either Disabled or live in a household with a Disabled person.
Secondly, a major factor driving a higher rate of poverty amongst Disabled people is the extra costs that we face due to disability. For example, Scope’s research shows that on average, Disabled households need an additional £1,010 a month to have the same standard of living as non-Disabled households. This is because Disabled people are more likely than non-Disabled people to have to pay for mobility aids, personal assistants, therapies unavailable on the NHS, sanitary items, items needed because of particular dietary requirements, specialist clothing, taxis, and so on.
Thirdly, almost 9 out of 10 people (87%) with a PIP Standard Rate Daily Living award, and about 1 in 10 people (13%) with a PIP Enhanced Rate Daily Living award, do not score at least four points for one of the descriptors, meaning that they stand to lose, respectively, £73.90 a week (£3842.80 a year) and £110.40 a week (£5740.80 a year).
In this context, it is extremely troubling that the government wants to cut and restrict access to disability benefits.
The government are attempting to justify their proposed changes by claiming that they are necessary to get more people into work. However, they have not presented any robust supporting evidence, and PIP is not an unemployment benefit. In fact, PIP helps many Disabled people to stay in work by enabling them to buy what they need to stay well enough to work and to meet relevant access needs. Losing PIP would lead to many people having no choice but to give up work and apply for Universal Credit – which would obviously undermine the government’s aim to increase the number of people in employment and reduce the number of people claiming benefits.
Furthermore, Access to Work is not fit for purpose in numerous ways, and this needs to be addressed before any changes to the benefits system are considered. Disability News Service reported that at the end of February, 62,000 Access to Work applications were still waiting to be processed, the average processing time for new applications was 84.6 days, and the average waiting time for a request to be reconsidered was 96.9 days. Likewise, the application process is unclear, communication is slow and disjointed, there is a distinct lack of support tailored to the individual, and payments are often late or fail to materialise altogether. This impacts not only those who need help from Access to Work, but also support workers and BSL interpreters.
What We are Doing
We will be submitting a response to the public consultation on the ‘Get Britain Working’ Green Paper, and are endeavouring to make it as representative of the views of our service users, members, staff and trustees as possible.
We are meeting with the Liberal Democrat MP for Wimbledon, Paul Kohler, on 10 July, to discuss the proposed changes to the benefits system.
We will reiterate our request to meet with the Labour MP for Mitcham and Morden, Siobhain McDonagh, to discuss the proposed changes to the benefits system.
Call for Action
What You Can Do
Contact your MP to let them know what you think. They work for you!
Liberal Democrat MP for Wimbledon, Paul Kohler:
- paul.kohler.mp@parliament.uk
- 020 7219 0496
- House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Labour MP for Mitcham and Morden, Siobhain McDonagh:
- siobhain.mcdonagh.mp@parliament.uk
- 020 7219 4678
- House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA or 1 Crown Road, Morden, SM4 5DD
Come to a rally in Parliament Square, SW1P 3JX, at 4.30pm on 30 June. The nearest accessible Tube station is Westminster.
Relevant links
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/59-01/0267/240267.pdf