Sweeping cuts and changes to health and disability benefits announced today threaten to plunge disabled people who are already struggling into even deeper poverty. This blog sets out Z2K’s response to the main measures announced in today’s green paper.
Restricting PIP
The most significant measure unveiled in the green paper is the shocking and dangerous proposal to significantly restrict the eligibility criteria for personal independence payment (PIP), the disability benefit for working-age adults.
PIP is a lifeline for disabled households, many of whom are already living in poverty. The government is proposing to drastically restrict eligibility for this vital disability support by making it even harder to qualify for the ‘daily living’ component of PIP.
If brought forward, these plans will have a devastating impact on the incomes of families affected. Although PIP is not a means-tested benefit, the reality is that the vast majority of people receiving PIP also receive a means-tested benefit, meaning that they are on very low incomes. Our clients tell us that they use the support to pay for essentials like food, bills and rent, and we know that seven in ten people who use food banks are disabled. Proceeding with these huge cuts to disability support will plunge families who are already struggling into even deeper hardship, and will inevitably increase child poverty, making a nonsense of the government’s commitments to tackle this.
These proposed cuts are also poorly targeted, and would mean people who are very severely disabled facing huge cuts to their income. Data from Z2K’s advice services show that the measures proposed by the government will see support denied to people with serious physical health conditions including stroke survivors and amputees, people like Carlos* and Anatoli*, and people with serious mental health conditions including psychosis, like Mohammed*. The cuts will also apply to people deemed to be the most severely disabled, those receiving the ‘enhanced’ rate.
Carlos* is 60 years old and has recently had a stroke which has left him needing the support of a walking stick and unable to move his right arm, along with memory problems. He requires round the clock support from his family. The plans would see his income reduced by around one-third.
Anatoli* has had his left foot and the toes on his right foot amputated. His wife has to help him with dressing, using the toilet and bathing. He stands to lose over £300/month under the government’s plans, which would leave him struggling to afford food and bills.
Mohammed* has psychosis and experiences hallucinations and delusional thinking. He is under the care of a social worker and a psychologist. He faces a significant cut to his income under the government’s plans, which threatens to destabilise him and jeopardise his mental health treatment.
*All names have been changed to preserve anonymity
The government must rethink these deeply concerning proposals. Failing this, we will see some of the most severely disabled people who have no chance of entering work being plunged into deep poverty.
Changing the rates of universal credit
The green paper also proposes significant changes to the rates of universal credit. The extra payment given to people who are too ill to work will be cut by almost 50% for new claimants, and frozen for three years for existing claimants. Alongside this, the green paper proposes a £7/week increase to the basic rate of universal credit.
This would mark a huge cut in support for seriously ill and disabled people under universal credit. Particularly when accompanied by big cuts to disability support via PIP, the plans will see disabled people losing out on really significant levels of support. This will doubtless drive up destitution and lead to even more disabled people struggling to pay for essentials like food and bills.
Z2K has long called for an increase to the low basic rate of universal credit, which is one of the lowest among comparable countries and which drives destitution and food bank use. But the government’s proposed meagre increase does not go anywhere near far enough, at a time where reliance on food banks has become widespread. The government must go further and set out a clear plan to meaningfully increase the basic rate of universal credit, so that we can truly begin to tackle poverty in this country.
More welcome was the news that the government is dropping discredited plans to restrict support for disabled people via incapacity benefits, which Z2K has campaigned against. While we are pleased to see the back of these ill-considered plans, the proposed changes to PIP suggest that the government is simply moving the problem to a different area.
Abolishing the work capability assessment
The green paper sets out a long-term ambition to abolish the work capability assessment, which determines the level of support and conditionality for claimants who have health problems which restrict their ability to work. Alongside this, the government is planning to explore requiring seriously ill and disabled people to engage more frequently with jobcentre staff.
Under the current work capability assessment system, disabled people have legal protection from being forced to look for work where they have a severe disability that would prohibit this. It is vital that the government ensures that disabled people continue to have robust protection from being forced to look for work or comply with inappropriate conditions. This must include maintaining the right to appeal to an independent tribunal against a decision to apply inappropriate conditionality.
Right to try and reassessments
Finally, the green paper proposes to ensure that people receiving health-related benefits are protected from having their support cut if they enter work. Alongside this, the government is proposing to reduce the number of assessments for people whose health will never improve, as well as exploring mandatory recording of health assessments, something Z2K has called for.
While these measures are welcome, they are undermined by proposals to increase the number of reassessments for most other claimants and force a return to mandatory face-to-face assessments. The government’s plan to support more disabled people into work relies on building trust between the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and disabled people – but dialling up reassessments without doing enough to tackle the punitive culture of decision-making risks making this problem even worse. This fragile trust is only being further jeopardised by the government’s panicked rush for short-term savings by restricting PIP.
Conclusion
Overall, the green paper represents a major threat to the livelihoods of disabled people and families who are already living in poverty. The plans to restrict PIP are poorly targeted, and will affect people who are severely disabled, plunging many into deep poverty. It is vital that we all do what we can to speak out against these dangerous proposals.
