Z2K submission to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Poverty and Inequality’s inquiry on the Disproportionate Impact of Poverty and Inequality on Disabled People 

Z2K submission to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Poverty and Inequality’s inquiry on the Disproportionate Impact of Poverty and Inequality on Disabled People

Full submission

Published April 2025

The government’s proposed disability benefit reforms, particularly new restrictions on eligibility for Personal Independence Payment (PIP), will deepen poverty among disabled people. Around 800,000 people stand to lose an average of £375 per month, with some facing much larger losses if linked support is also withdrawn. Drawing on frontline evidence and case studies, this submission argues the reforms are poorly targeted, risk pushing 300,000 more people into poverty, and should be abandoned in favour of meaningful reform of the disability benefits assessment system. 

Z2K is an anti-poverty charity working to end UK poverty through providing expert frontline advice and representation services and campaigning for change. 85% of clients of our casework service have a long-term health condition or disability, and disability benefits is the number one area of focus of our advice services. We have a history of campaigning on disability benefits and publish research on disability benefits, most recently our Security not Sanctions report. We also work closely with a group of experts by experience who receive disability benefits.

Z2K’s recommendations

  1. It is difficult to see how proceeding with the plan for the 4-point PIP rule will do anything other than widen the poverty gap between disabled and non-disabled people even further. Pushing 300,000 more disabled people into poverty is clearly not the way to reduce the disproportionate impact of poverty on this group. We recommend that the 4-point PIP rule is abandoned in its entirety.
  2. Instead of proceeding with dangerous plans to restrict eligibility for PIP, the government should instead focus on careful reform of the disability benefits system which meaningfully addresses the barriers to work that the benefits system poses for
    disabled people. This must start by addressing the punitive assessment system, which sees the Department for Work and Pensions lose nearly 4 in 5 appeals. We were encouraged to see the green paper propose exploring recording assessments as standard, but we recommend that the government goes further by exploring sending assessor reports with decisions as standard.

Read the full submission..

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