Mentally ill, ill and disabled people are being used as a ‘political football’ to make the government look tough instead of tackling the causes of Britain’s growing problem of long-term illness, campaigners have warned, as ministers propose cautious unveiled plans to cut disability benefits .
Potentially thousands of people claiming Personal Independence Allowance (Pip) could lose the benefit – currently worth between £29 and £184 a week – due to changes aimed at tightening eligibility and, where possible, offering monthly cash replacing payments with one-off vouchers or access to specialist support.
Ministers proposed that claimants receiving Pip for what they called “milder mental health conditions” would no longer qualify under the proposals, with the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, saying the “unsustainable” growth in Pip use was a result was part of the benefits system. the medicalization of life’s daily challenges and concerns.”
Although the green paper Released Monday evening, the government did not say how many people would lose their rights or how much money reforms would save. The government insisted it would halt rapidly rising spending on disability benefits, while supporting genuine claimants and thwarting those trying to “game the system”.
The proposals were criticized by campaigners and doctors for evoking “benefit scrounger” rhetoric, while ignoring how difficult it is to claim Pip and ignoring the underlying causes of poor health, from rising poverty to inadequate NHS services.
Families in poverty would likely be hardest hit by attempts to reduce eligibility for Pip payments, due to their heavy reliance on the benefit to pay for food and energy, charities have warned. Pip accounts for a third of the total household income of the poorest families.
Although presented as a “crackdown on benefits”, the Green Paper itself is more provisional, framing its proposals as the start of a “conversation” with people with disabilities and other stakeholders, rather than as firm plans.
The proposals are unlikely to be implemented before the next general election.
It is uncertain whether a Labor government would embrace the proposals in their current form – although it is unlikely it could ignore Pip’s rising costs. According to the Department for Work and Pensions, this currently stands at £22 billion, up from £16 billion in 2020-21, and is expected to rise to £28 billion in five years.
Labor leader Keir Starmer said: “They designed it (the Pip system) and introduced it and now, 14 years later, they say it doesn’t work, so there is an element of farce to it. But of course we will look at the details when they become available.”
Alison McGovern, Labour’s acting shadow work and pensions secretary, said the party wanted to see a system that enabled people with disabilities to live independently and enabled as many people as possible to work.
“This green paper is not a plan, it is an exam that the minister hopes he will never have to take,” she said.
Ministers said the reforms were aimed at controlling fast-growing Pip spending – driven by an increasing number of claimants, many of them with mental health problems.
Seven years ago, an average of 15,000 new claims were received per month, but this has now grown to 30,000.
In January this year there were 3.3 million Pip claimants in England and Wales, an increase of almost a million in the past three years. Scotland is in the process of replacing Pip with adult disability benefits and is therefore unlikely to be affected by the reforms resulting from the Green Paper.
Pip is a non-means-tested benefit intended to help recipients cope with the additional daily living costs resulting from being chronically ill or disabled.
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It was introduced in 2014 to replace the Disability Living Allowance, but has failed to cut spending and has been dogged by controversy, not least over its complex assessment process.
Pip’s new approaches – outlined in a green paper on Monday evening – include a ‘movement’ from fixed monthly cash payments to what ministers are calling ‘tailored support’ such as vouchers, one-off grants and improved access to mental health care. .
“We would like to understand whether some people receiving Pip, who have lower or no additional costs, could achieve better outcomes through better access to treatment and support rather than an out-of-pocket payment,” the green paper said.
Iain Porter, senior policy adviser at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: “This (the green paper) is clearly an opportunity for the government to sound tough, but it comes on the backs of people who are already facing enormous challenges, both financially and with their health.
“People in this position should not be used as a political football. Even if there is no prospect of these changes happening in the run-up to the general election, this rhetoric is leaving many facing an uncertain future, exacerbated by misinformation and stigma.”
Dr. Lade Smith, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said: “If the Government is committed to tackling this crisis, it must tackle the causes of mental illness and ensure people have timely access to the care and treatment they need to have.”
Anela Anwar, CEO of anti-poverty organization Z2K, said: “It is clear that these proposals have been devised without serious input from people with lived or learned experience of the reality of disability benefits.”
Andrew Molodynski, head of mental health at the British Medical Association, said: “The Government would be better placed to properly fund the critical health and social services that keep people healthy and tackle the record levels of poverty this country is facing.”