“I am extremely worried [about cuts and restrictions],” said Bal Deol, a 31-year-old wheelchair user with mitochondrial DNA disease. “PIP is supposed to assist disabled people to become more independent.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall is set to unveil plans to cut the top rate of incapacity benefit and make it harder to qualify for personal independence payments (PIP) on Tuesday.
But campaigners are warning that Labour’s reforms could backfire by forcing some disabled people already in jobs out of work and into poverty.
square BENEFITS ExplainedOne million to have benefits cut - where reductions will fall from PIP to UC
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The PhD student said PIP helps pay for specialist equipment and allows her to live an “independent life” at Staffordshire University – including getting to hospital appointments and meeting friends.
She is losing the ability to speak and uses communicator devices which “speak” using her voice as it was in 2021.
But disability charities have accused the Government of conflating PIP with out of work benefits like universal credit, pointing out that the personal independence payments help many people remain in work and at university.
“It’s absolutely wrong [to conflate PIP with out of work benefits],” she said. “Please Chancellor Rachel Reeves – do not conflate the two, it will destroy my independence.”
However, the Work and Pensions Secretary said the number of PIP claimants was set to “more than double this decade”. She also argued that it was important to help more disabled find work.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall will announce cuts to benefits next week (Photo: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing/Getty)
The Government is expected to announce plans to make between £5bn and £6bn in annual welfare savings, with the bulk expected to come from tightening access to PIP.
Amid a growing backlash from Labour backbenchers, ministers are considering whether dropping a proposal to freeze PIP so payments don’t rise in line with inflation next year, according to reports.
The current system sees PIP applicants awarded points based on a series of daily activities, taking into account a person’s abilities and how much help they need.
Applicants could soon be required to get at least four points on at least one kind of activity to get PIP, according to reports.
Carol Vickers says PIP supports her in work (Photo: Supplied)
Carol Vickers – who has Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS), severe osteoarthritis and ADHD – said the looming changes were “terrifying”.
“The rhetoric about getting disabled people into work is infuriating,” she said. “I’m working and so are millions of other disabled people.”
A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said the welfare system needs reforms “so it is fairer on the taxpayer, helps long-term sick and disabled people who can work to find employment, whilst ensuring it provides support for those who need it most”.
The spokesperson added that the forthcoming proposals would “unlock work to help us reach our ambition of an 80 per cent employment rate”.
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