When it comes to disability benefits, Labour’s Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is so far looking little changed from the office under its callous predecessor – especially over Personal Independence Payment (PIP). There’s just one week left before a consultation on controversial changes to the disability benefit closes. Infamously, the alarming proposals introduced by the previous Tory government include plans to replace PIP with a voucher or catalogue scheme.
What’s more, the plans would likely push the burden of DWP PIP ‘cuts’ onto new claimants or those facing end of award reassessments. Despite all this, the new Labour government hasn’t ruled out implementing these reforms. Instead, it plans to review the consultation responses. Naturally, it’s leaving disabled people concerned at the possibility of the new Labour Party-led government following through with these reckless and harmful proposals.
Disability benefit reforms – DWP PIP consultation closes soon
On 22 July, a public consultation on potential reforms to PIP will close.
Under the previous Conservative Party government, the DWP launched plans to overhaul the benefits system. When it came to PIP, the then Tory-led department put forward proposals to cut the number of claimants and implement new supposed cost-saving alternatives.
Significantly, this included Sunak’s notorious plans to replace the disability benefit with a voucher scheme. The Canary’s Rachel Charlton-Dailey explained in April why this is such a dangerous, and disgraceful idea. She wrote that:
This is such a horrible idea I can’t even fully articulate how cruel it would be. For starters, it strips away the ‘independence’ part of PIP as it takes away our financial autonomy.
Vouchers would limit where we spend our cash. Would they be accepted in all shops? How much would the vouchers be for? Will they just be things to help support us – like care and mobility aides – or will they also be for food and bills?
Will taxis accept them? What about carers and people we hire to help us like cleaners? Can I pay my prescription charges exemption certificate in vouchers?
Besides the voucher scheme proposal, the DWP put forward similarly ill-thought and punitively restrictive options. This included a catalogue or shop scheme, with approved items. As well as this, it suggested possible a receipt-based system.
Again, as Charlton-Dailey highlighted, the DWP PIP ideas are hugely unworkable, with little understanding of disabled people’s needs or life circumstances. For instance, the receipt-based system relies on a functioning department, and also expects disabled people to be able to afford costs up-front. So, as she noted:
What this plan will do is make disabled people take out loans and enter into buy now, pay later schemes. It’ll push us further into debt – and you can guarantee you won’t get reimbursed plus the interest.
By proposing we send the government receipts to claim money back, they’re treating our everyday essentials and commodities as expenses.
Labour on the ‘back to work’ bandwagon already
Meanwhile, in June, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) analysed the impacts the DWP PIP reforms could have. Most notably, the IFS stated how benefit cuts through these proposals would mean:
a lot of people losing significant sums.
Specifically, it detailed how the burden of this would largely fall on new claimants and those up for reassessments. Therefore, where existing claimants are concerned, disabled and chronically ill people on fixed short-term awards would bear the brunt of these changes.
A coalition of disability rights charities have therefore urged new Labour DWP boss Liz Kendall to scrap the reforms. Crucially, in an open letter, they set out to the new DWP secretary how the proposals would:
condemn seriously ill and Disabled people to a life of poverty and the threat of sanctions.
By contrast however, Kendall and Labour appear to be mulling the reforms regardless. As the Mirror reported on 8 July:
Labour insiders have hinted they’ll review the public’s response to these proposals after the consultation wraps up on July 22, which falls three weeks post-election.
In short, Labour has failed to reassure disabled people that it will ditch the Tories’ callous DWP PIP plans. What’s more, it was in the context of this ongoing consultation that Kendall made the new government’s “Back to Work Plan” announcement.
On 11 July, Kendall visited Leeds and made a speech concerning so-called “economic inactivity”. In this, she articulated the government’s position that:
rising levels of economic inactivity are unacceptable and that immediate action must be taken.
In this, she highlighted the 2.8 million people unable to work owing to long-term sickness. What’s more, she expressed how:
It’s not good enough that the UK is the only G7 country with employment not back to pre-pandemic levels.
While Kendall suggested Labour would “tackle the root causes”, disabled and chronically ill people noted the hostile rhetoric, with Kendall’s declaration that:
Economic inactivity is holding Britain back – it’s bad for people, it’s bad for businesses, and it’s bad for growth.
Given Labour intends to pore over the consultation responses, it’s vital disabled and chronically ill claimants send a strong message that the new proposals must be binned. However, the new government has already begun its term demonising, and ignoring disabled people’s demands. Time will tell if it will actually take any of their concerns on board. So far, it hasn’t been a promising start.
Feature image via the Canary
