The Government has recently announced and then amended a range of welfare reforms that will impact many disabled people in England and Wales. The originally stated desire was to reduce the amount spent on disability welfare benefits by £6 billion by the end of this Parliament. This was to be done by making it harder for people to claim Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and freezing and eventually decreasing the disability element of Universal Credit.
After a threatened rebellion by 120 Labour backbench MPs, the proposals were amended on 27th June to not affect current claimants but only apply to new claimants, reducing the saving from £6 billion to approximately £3 billion.
The Government tell us that the reforms are to encourage disabled people to return to work, but at their heart is a confusion between out of work welfare payments and payments made to support people to meet the additional costs of being disabled, whether in work or not.
Personal Independence Payments (PIP) is a non-means tested payment made to people who need support for daily living (washing, dressing, cooking, and more) and to be safely mobile. To qualify, it requires disabled people to score points across a range of daily living tasks, getting more points where more support and assistance is required. Currently people need to score 8 points across this range, so people who experience a range of lower level disabilities that have a cumulative disabling effect in their lives qualify. However, under the new proposals, to qualify, a person will need to score 4 points in at least one area and 8 or more in total. This means that people who require support across the areas but don’t’ score highly in any one area will not qualify for PIP. Under the amended proposal these reforms will take effect in 2026 for new claimants.
Along with this, for all future claimants, there will be a freezing and eventual reduction in the disability element of Universal Credit, meaning that there will no longer be a recognition that being disabled incurs extra costs for things such as taxis, extra heating and more within the foundational national welfare benefit.
It is universally recognised by disability charities and advocacy groups that these policies will push a large number of disabled people into increasing poverty and distress. Also, that, although the Government talks about supporting disabled people into work, this reflects little recognition of the reality of the state of the current jobs and employment market and the availability of accessible and adaptable jobs.
Already 75% of those who use food banks are disabled or have caring responsibilities for disabled family members. With these reforms this figure is likely to increase dramatically. It is estimated that the reforms will mean that up to 600,000 people who become disabled over the next 4 years will have dramatically reduced incomes compared to those who currently receive these benefits.
Disability organisations and charities say that this will create an unfair and unworkable system in which disabled people will increasingly find themselves in poverty and experience greater marginalisation and isolation.
In all of this disabled people and advocacy groups feel they have not been consulted or listened to and that in fact the whole issue of disability has been used as a political trope that has dehumanised and demonised disabled people and their lived experiences. This has created a climate of fear amongst many disabled people who feel that further attempts to cut benefits are inevitable.
The Church of England Disability Task Group published a short bulletin highlighting some case studies of how the original proposal would affect people. These still give a clear picture of how the reforms will affect future claimants as well as sharing a range of ways in which you can respond and get involved.
In our churches it is important to be aware of the reforms and the anxiety they are causing amongst disabled people. Many disabled people already face mental health challenges and the fear of the possibility of incomes reduced when this is already insufficient will only exacerbate and increase this. Within our congregations and the many community support projects that churches across London run, we will need to be aware of and attentive to the increasing levels of anxiety amongst disabled people and be prepared to offer friendship and support wherever possible.
Do respond to these reforms by using the links in the Disability Task Group Bulletin and by writing to your MP to highlight how these reforms will impact some of the most vulnerable in our communities.
These disabled-led organisations have further details and ways to get involved
Disability Benefits Consortium: Working together towards a fairer welfare system for disabled people
Disability Rights UK: We are Disabled people working for an inclusive society