In what was widely described as a major climbdown, the government has been forced to bin plans that would have slashed the numbers of people who could qualify for personal independence payment (PIP).
This summer, the government had to roll back on the major plank of its planned welfare reforms. This followed a rebellion by large swathes of Labour’s backbench MPs against major changes to the rules on entitlement to PIP.
Their votes to reject the bill as it stood meant that these could not proceed through parliament. The proposals would have meant hundreds of thousands of disabled people losing their award of PIP, the main benefit designed to assist them in managing the extra costs of having a disability.
The original plan meant that any disabled claimant, including those having awards reviewed, would have to score four or more points in at least one PIP daily living activity plus achieve more points in other activities to bring the total to at least eight to qualify for the daily living component.
That proposal was removed entirely during the parliamentary reading of the bill.
What will be different
Changes in the bill now involve only claims for universal credit (UC). These will come into force as the Universal Credit Act in April next year.
The new act will involve the following:
- The UC standard allowance paid in both new and existing claims will be increased
- The limited capability for work and work-related activity (LCWRA) element, which will be renamed the health element, will be frozen at £97 per week for most new qualifying claimants until 2029-30. However, the freeze will not apply to those already receiving the health element, people with a terminal illness or those meet the new severe conditions criteria (these criteria apply to specific conditions, such as dementia and severe acquired brain injury)
- For new claims from April 2026, the rate of the LCWRA/health element will be cut heavily from £97 per week in 2024-25 to £50 per week in 2026-27
- Most people receiving the health element of UC will be expected to sometimes take part in conversations about work and support. The Department for Work and Pensions may apply sanctions to people in this group, but it is not expected that they will be required to undertake work-related activity or seek or take up employment.
There had been a proposal to restrict eligibility to the UC health element to claimants aged over 22 years. This was removed but could be considered again in the future.
There will be a review of PIP assessment. This is to be led by the minister for social security and disability, Sir Stephen Timms, and be co-produced with disabled people, along with organisations that represent them, clinicians, experts, MPs and other stakeholders.
PIP criteria under review again
In a recent interview with the BBC, Timms said that the process will involve “a fairly small group of [around] 10 people”. How many of the group are people with lived experience of disability remains to be seen.
Issues the review will consider include using the PIP assessment as the single gateway to health-related and disability benefits as well as the assessment criteria, and whether these effectively capture the impact of long-term health conditions and disability in the modern world.
Carers will also be affected. To get carer’s allowance, as they must be looking after someone who gets a qualifying disability benefit
The review is planned to conclude by autumn 2026, and a public consultation will follow.
Given the grim future that some disabled people would have faced with cuts to their PIP entitlement, the removal of reform on points must be a positive thing.
However, disabled people and organisations that represent them will no doubt remain on the alert for any other future plans to cut their already meagre incomes.
