The Resolution Foundation has warned that changes to the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) will affect the living standards of hundreds of thousands of disabled people
A group has detailed which Personal Independence Payments (PIPs) recipients are most likely to keep their benefits in light of a significant change proposed by the government. This week, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall unveiled a major shake-up to the PIP system that could potentially slash the budget by £5 billion.
However, MPs and charities have raised concerns that many disabled individuals who depend on these funds for daily life could unfairly lose vital support. The Green Paper is viewed as the Government’s sincere attempt to tackle two main issues: the soaring cost of disability benefits and the high number of people unable to work due to ill health.
The cuts announced earlier this year are expected to save over £5 billion annually by 2030. However, experts predict that around a million people in England and Wales will lose their disability benefits as part of this overhaul.
Welfare reductions aiming to save roughly £5 billion in 2029/30 were revealed earlier this year. The Resolution Foundation, an independent British think tank founded in 2005, strives to improve the living standards of low- to middle-income families.
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is a benefit designed for individuals below State Pension age who need help with daily activities or mobility due to long-term illness or disability, reports Yorkshire Live.
The Resolution Foundation has issued a stark warning that changes to the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) will hit the living standards of hundreds of thousands of disabled people. The foundation pointed out that if this single change saves £5 billion, ‘then it means between 800,000 and 1.2 million people losing support of either £4,200 (if receiving the standard rate Daily Living element) or £6,300 (if on the enhanced rate Daily Living element) a year by 2029-30’.
Those most likely to bear the brunt of these changes are: “Those losing out will be the people who would currently qualify for the Daily Living element of PIP, but score under four points in each of the 10 headings. For example, this will include people who have lower-level needs across a range of activities (like needing aids or appliances to cook, take nutrition, wash and bathe, and dress and undress) but who are not deemed to be completely unable to complete any of these activities. Meanwhile, people who experience large difficulties across one or more of the PIP activities will be unaffected.”
The Foundation has highlighted the groups least likely to be hit by the new benefit rules, noting: “The DWP has not released any evidence on the impact of these changes, but what we can say (based on previously-released data) is that people with conditions including learning difficulties, cerebral palsy and autism are least likely to be affected, since people receiving PIP and with these conditions are most likely to score 21 points or more in the Daily Living part of the PIP assessment, meaning they are very unlikely to have passed the assessment without scoring four or more points in one of the headings.”
A recent study points out that cutting financial aid for those with severe conditions will disproportionately damage poorer areas, with areas represented by Labour MPs facing the mightiest economic blow.
An in-depth analysis looking at individual constituencies forecasts the effects of the Government’s move to toughen the personal independence payment (Pip) qualification terms, exposing the risk of multi-million-pound collective losses for businesses in certain regions.
Local expenditure drops due to fewer eligible Pip claimants under the impending alterations also reveal that the poorest communities could lose almost triple the amount compared to the richest ones, according to the research.
Fresh statistics have revealed a staggering 3.7 million individuals are beneficiaries of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) across England and Wales, with the sum granted hinging on the claimants’ scores reflecting their challenges in daily tasks.
In a bid to trim down the welfare expenditure and nudge more individuals into the workforce, PIP assessment protocols are being reformed.
A policy document dubbed the “pathways to work” Green Paper, released this March, features a proposal that lays out the necessity for claimants to rack up at least four points in one or more categories to be eligible for PIP’s “daily living” section.
Furthermore, the cut-off age when adolescents shift from receiving the disability living allowance designated for children is on the cards to ascend from 16 to 18 years.