Plans for cuts to benefits which will impact more than three million households will be published today – as the government faces a battle to convince dozens of Labour MPs to back them.
Liz Kendall, the welfare secretary, has set out proposals to cut £5bn from the welfare budget – which she has said is “unsustainable” and “trapping people in welfare dependency”.
Disabled people claiming PIP, the personal independence payment which helps people – some of them working – with the increased costs of daily living, face having their awards reviewed from the end of next year.
An estimated 800,000 current and future PIP recipients will lose an average of £4,500 a year, according to a government assessment.
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Government’s battle over welfare reforms
The government also intends to freeze the health element of Universal Credit, claimed by more than two million people, at £97 a week during this parliament, and cut the rate to £50 for new claimants.
Under pressure from Labour MPs concerned particularly that changes to PIP will drive families into poverty, Ms Kendall will announce new protections in the bill today.
Sky News understands they include a 13-week transition period for those losing PIP; a higher rate of Universal Credit for people with the most serious conditions; and a commitment that disabled people who take a job will not immediately lose their benefits.
Some 40 Labour MPs have signed a letter refusing to support the cuts; and dozens of others have concerns, including ministers.
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Benefits cuts explained
Ms Kendall is determined to press ahead, and has said the number of new PIP claimants has doubled since 2019 – at 34,000, up from 15,000.
Ministers say 90% of current claimants will not lose their benefits; and that many people will be better off – with the total welfare bill set to continue to rise over this parliament.
To keep the benefit, claimants must score a minimum of four points out of eight on one of the daily living criteria.
Ministers say claimants with the most serious conditions, who cannot work, will not face constant reassessments.
A £1bn programme is proposed, intended to give disabled people who can work tailored support to find jobs.
Some Labour MPs have angrily opposed the reforms – which will be voted on later this month.
Last night in a parliamentary debate, Labour MP for Poole Neil Duncan-Jordan disputed the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) figures.
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He said: “We already know that PIP is an underclaimed benefit. The increase in claims is a symptom of declining public health and increased financial hardship disabled people are facing.
“We have the same proportion of people on working-age benefits as in 2015. This is not an economic necessity, it’s a political choice.”
Liz Kendall
Rachael Maskell, Labour MP for York, called the proposals “devastating “. She said: “We must change direction and not proceed with these cuts.”
Disability groups say they fear an increase in suicides and mental health conditions.
The government’s own assessment forecast an extra 250,000 people could be pushed into poverty – including 50,000 children. It did not include the impact of people moving into work.
Ms Kendall was urged by MPs on the Commons Work and Pensions committee to delay the reforms, to carry out an impact assessment, but wrote back to the committee saying the reforms were too urgent to delay – and that MPs would be able to amend the legislation.
