More particulars on the rumoured billions in welfare cuts Labour plans to announce this week have been revealed as reviews point out ministers need to shave £6 billion from incapacity advantages claimed by hundreds of thousands of individuals.
Reforms to the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) at the moment are broadly anticipated, with Labour MPs understood to be divided on the cost-cutting coverage package deal. The fee is designed to assist individuals with further prices incurred by their incapacity, whether or not they’re working or not.
The modifications will embrace making it tougher to qualify for PIP, as round £5 billion of the floated £6 billion in cuts focuses on the incapacity profit claimed by 3.6 million individuals.
Ministers had additionally reportedly been freezing PIP funds to forestall the fee ranges from rising with inflation, as all advantages do, in 2026. However, it’s understood that stress from backbench MPs over the plans has led to this concept being taken off the desk.
Meanwhile, Whitehall insiders have indicated that there may very well be a freeze or discount to the health-related aspect of Universal Credit, which is a separate profit, for these with long-term illness. This may very well be accompanied by a lift to the incomes of Universal Credit claimants looking for work.
A report from the influential right-wing Policy Exchange assume tank offers yet one more concept of what may very well be anticipated, as a former senior particular adviser to the prime minister penned his suggestions to make ‘major reforms’ to PIP.
Jean-Andre Prager started his profession as a coverage advisor for the Conservatives and have become a particular advisor to the prime minister in 2018. This means he suggested Theresa May and Boris Johnson earlier than being promoted to senior adviser beneath Rishi Sunak.
His report recommends “major reform” to PIP, making it a “conditional” profit for these aged 16 to 30. This means these on this age bracket could be required to search for work or be concerned in additional schooling or coaching, besides in distinctive circumstances.
However, a number of consultants have taken concern with modifications to PIP being made with the intention of boosting employment, mentioning that it isn’t an out-of-work profit. This means the rumoured £6 billion in financial savings would seem to not wash with Labour’s state purpose of boosting employment, critics say.
Analysis by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation additionally factors out that, if the complete quantity in cuts have been to go forward, it might be the most important reduce to incapacity advantages because the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) was created in 2010.
Peter Matejic, chief analyst on the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, added: “If the government cuts benefits, this will only serve to deepen hardship. As we’ve demonstrated, cuts on this scale would be unprecedented. It is no answer to the nation’s health or employment prospects.
“If a disabled person needs financial support to be able to live and work, taking that support away or freezing it risks pushing them further away from a job. It is an unethical and short-sighted approach.”
James Taylor, Executive Director of technique at incapacity equality charity Scope mentioned: “Ripping PIP away will be catastrophic for disabled people.
“PIP exists as a result of life prices extra in case you are disabled. Those prices gained’t disappear if the federal government squeezes eligibility. Many disabled individuals use PIP to get to and from work and to pay for important gear like mobility aids.
“Making it harder to get benefits will just push even more disabled people into poverty, not into jobs. The Chancellor has a choice – cut benefits and increase poverty, or invest in an equal future for disabled people. Making the wrong choice will have a devastating impact on disabled people and their families.”
Ahead of the federal government’s announcement, a number of PIP claimants and advisors shared their expertise of the profit with The Independent. One informed the paper that the appliance course of is already “complex, stressful and degrading”, with tough assessments making it arduous for individuals to get the assist they’re entitled to.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has not but given any confirmed particulars of the upcoming modifications to advantages, with an announcement anticipated earlier than Rachel Reeves’ Spring Statement on 26 March.
Last month, work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall mentioned too many individuals claiming advantages as an alternative of working have been “taking the mickey.”
While a DWP-commissioned report discovered that round half of these on well being and incapacity advantages thought they’d by no means be capable of work, Ms Kendall mentioned: “I don’t blame people for thinking that they can’t, because they’re stuck on a waiting list for treatment, they haven’t had the proper support that they might need from the job centre.”
Ahead of the much-anticipated Green Paper, the DWP introduced 1,000 work coaches are set to be deployed to jobcentres throughout the UK to assist sick and disabled individuals discover employment.
It has additionally been reported that ministers are contemplating a ‘right to try’ coverage which might see disabled profit claimants capable of retain their advantages ought to they undertake employment that doesn’t change into long-term.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/pip-disability-benefits-universal-credit-labour-starmer-b2716987.html