Around a million people to completely lose right to PIP payments
Around a million people will completely lose their right to personal independence payments (Pip) in the cuts to welfare announced on Tuesday, a think tank has estimated.
The tightening of eligibility for personal independence payments (Pip), a benefit aimed at helping those with disability or long-term illness with increased living costs, was one of the most significant moves announced on Tuesday.
Chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, Ruth Curtice, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The Government haven’t given us a number for how many will be affected, and because they’ve made quite a detailed change to the system, we can’t tell exactly who will be affected.
“I think it would have been good if the Government had told us yesterday, but given what they’ve told us about how much they’re planning, the Resolution Foundation estimate it’s around a million people who are losing their entitlement to Pip completely.”
Proposed changes cover who qualifies for benefits, how much they are paid, and how long individuals can receive them, she said.
Ms Curtice added: “The Government’s made significant changes in all of those areas, but most of the savings we understand are coming from changes to who qualifies. You can think of £5 billion as small or large, depending on your perspective – getting those from a million individuals means that for those individuals, it’s really significant income loss.”