Why we’re asking MPs to vote against the bill to cut disability benefits

Today, the government laid its Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill before parliament. It details plans to cut billions from health and disability benefits. The government hasn’t consulted with the public on these plans, despite being the biggest cuts to disability benefits ever assessed by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).

We’re launching a blog series examining key aspects of the government’s plans. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be looking at the proposed changes and how they’ll impact disabled people. We’ll draw on our Pathways to Poverty report to share data analysis, insights from our advisers and real-life stories from the people we help.

What’s in the bill?

The proposals included in the bill are:

1. Narrowing Personal Independence Payment (PIP) eligibility criteria so you must score at least 4 points in at least one activity to receive the daily living component of PIP. This is on top of needing to score at least 8 points in total
2. Changes to Universal Credit (UC) rates, including raising the standard allowance, freezing the rate of the health element for current claimants, and cutting it by about 50% for new claimants
3. Freezing the income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA IR) disability payments, including the disability premium, support component and work-related activity component

The bill also says that those who lose PIP due to the new rules will continue to get payments for 13 weeks. And new UC claimants who are terminally ill, or who meet the ‘severe conditions criteria’, won’t have their UC health payment cut in half.

The government is planning further changes to the health and disability system, as outlined in their green paper. These plans include scrapping the Work Capability Assessment (WCA). We expect to see these changes brought in through separate legislation later this year.

What happens next?

Today, the bill was formally introduced to parliament. In 2 weeks, we’re expecting the first debate and vote on the bill.

After this first vote, the bill will still need to pass through several more stages. During this time, MPs will have the opportunity to propose amendments, which are proposals to change aspects of the bill. Some of these amendments will be voted on before a final debate and vote on the bill.

If the bill passes with a majority vote in the House of Commons, it then begins its journey through the House of Lords (but ultimately will pass if it has Commons’ approval).

We’re calling on MPs to vote against the bill

MPs will be voting to cut disability benefits with limited information on what the impact of those cuts will be. That’s because:

• There was no public consultation on the changes. This means there’s been a very limited window for disabled people and the organisations that represent them to analyse the potential impact of the cuts
• The impact assessment produced by the government was deeply flawed. This means that the true scale of the cuts has likely been underestimated
• The government says that some people affected by the cuts will move into work. But official analysis estimating how many people will start work isn’t due to be published until after MPs have voted

What we do know is that if this bill passes, it will have a devastating impact on disabled people (and their children). It will send hundreds of thousands into poverty, and many more into deeper poverty. The reforms will leave at least 3.2 million families worse off by an average of £1,720 in 2029/30. Promises to soften the impact have offered little to reassure people who will see their benefits cut.

We’re calling on MPs to protect living standards for disabled people by voting against the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill.