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The Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall has told MPs in the House of Commons that the current benefits system is “failing” the people it is meant to help which is “holding our country back.”
Kendall said the government will make the eligibility criteria for disability benefits narrow to cut £5 billion.
The government has said they will not freeze the personal independence payment (PIP), but they will make it more difficult for people to qualify for the allowance from November 2026.
PIP is given to disabled people who need extra care or mobility requirements as a result of being disabled.
Kendall said they are making “decisive action to fix the broken benefits system” to have a “more pro-active, pro-work system for those who can work.”
Those on PIP will have score a much higher threshold to qualify the allowance and people who are disabled and score the lowest points “will lose their entitlement in future.”
The government is saying the review into the PIP assessment will make the process “fit for purpose now and into the future.”
Charles Gillies, of the Disability Benefit Consortium, warned, “These immoral and devastating benefits cuts will push more disabled people into poverty, and worsen people’s health.”
He said the changes to PIP payments will impact disabled people with “the overwhelming additional costs of their condition, from wheelchairs to visits from carers,” and he is strongly urging the government to reverse these “cruel cuts.”
Professor Len Shackleton, Editorial and Research Fellow at the free market think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs, said, “Today’s announcement will upset disability campaigners and Labour’s back-benchers, but will do nothing much to reform benefits or save significant amounts of money.
“Eligibility for PIP certainly needs to be narrowed, but it remains to be seen just how this will be accomplished. It certainly makes sense to have a common fitness to work test for PIP and universal credit, but this test needs to be much tougher – and assessed in person – than either of the existing measures. It is also sensible to merge jobseekers’ and employment support allowances, but this is subject to consultation which may find it is too difficult to implement.
“The ‘right-to-try’ idea is a good one, but it needs to be taken seriously. Claimants should be expected to make a proper effort at a job, for their sake and that of the employer, rather than reverting back to benefits too quickly.
“Any hopes that cuts in the benefits system would generate sufficient savings to reduce government borrowing or contribute to higher defence spending will be disappointed. Even if the planned £5 billion savings are achieved – and this is doubtful, given likely concessions to pressure groups – this is over a five-year period when other elements of spending will surely be rising. It is any case a flea-bite in the context of total welfare spending.
“Overall, a disappointing announcement which simply serves to provide the Commons with another opportunity for a shouty afternoon.”
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