Many across the country rely on Personal Independence Payments (PIP) as a lifeline to support them with the extra costs of their disability – but many fear they will lost it
Liz Kendall says welfare reforms aim to ‘fix broken system’
People with disabilities have reacted with fear and anxiety at the DWP’s huge benefits shake-up.
Many across the country rely on Personal Independence Payments (PIP) as a lifeline to support them with the extra costs of their disability. But Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall has controversially announced the tightening of eligibility for PIP – which is paid regardless of employment status
The support works in two parts with claimants scored with points by the DWP. The first element is used to help with everyday tasks such as eating and drinking, using the toilet and bathing. A second element is used to help those with mobility problems and have issues with physically moving around and leaving their home.
Under changes unveiled today the DWP says a new requirement will be introduced to “ensure only those who score a a minimum of four points in at least one daily living activity will be eligible for the daily living component of PIP”.
Many have raised fears over how they will survive without PIP. The Mirror spoke to some people with disabilities today.
READ MORE: PIP changes and major benefit cuts unveiled – what 7 key changes means for you
‘I’ve been feeling upset, worried and scared’
Bryony Moss, 26, who is an actress, model, and disability advocate who has a learning disability and cerebral palsy, said she is “worried and scared” she will lose her PIP. She receives the higher rate of PIP – up to around £180 a week for the combined daily living and mobility amounts – which she uses to help her live a healthy, independent and fulfilling life. She also receives Universal Credit. “I’ve been feeling quite upset and hurt and I’m a bit worried and scared,” she told the Mirror.
Bryony, who is from Buckinghamshire, said she fears she may no longer be able to fund her support worker, who she sees from Monday to Saturday and who helps her live independently from her parents, accompanying her to social groups, on food shops or to hospital appointments. She also uses her PIP to buy special clothing, including shoes she can wear with her splint, or buying particular foods as she has problems with her diet.
Asked how she felt that the Government had decided to tighten the eligibility of PIP, she said: “I was a bit hurt that it kind of felt like they were kind of just choosing the more vulnerable people in society. I know lots of these changes won’t be coming in until the next year but I do think that it is very harsh and unfair.”
She also added that she thought the announcements were not communicated well. “I’ve had it very hard myself and I’ve had to have it broken down and have had to speak to people to try to understand the green paper and things like that. I don’t think it’s been very disabled friendly.”
READ MORE: DWP’s Liz Kendall to reveal huge changes to benefits – see what could be announcedREAD MORE: DWP benefit cuts unveiled – with major changes to PIP
‘It’s going to really shut me away if my PIP
Ismail Kaji, 47, who has a learning disability and works full-time at disability charity Mencap, said he is “feeling very anxious and very worried” about the changes announced. Also a recipient of the higher rate of PIP, he said he will be “shut away “ if it is cut off.
Ismail, who lives in east London, said: “I won’t be able to be part of the community or get to appointments when needed. The support that I receive could be reduced and it’s going to really shut me away because having a learning disability and health conditions are a big thing for me in my life and PIP is very important.” He said PIP helps with the barriers he faces on a regular basis due to his disability – such as extra costs with health and social care like managing his joint problems. Ismail said there has been “a lot of confusion” between employment benefits and disability benefits.
He said employment help is about giving opportunities or building “confidence or independence” to help people with disabilities get a job, whereas PIP is about your health and managing your disability, whether you are in work or not. “Why are the announcements about trying to remove people’s disability benefits, when the person’s disability is going to be there for the rest of their lives,” he said. “It’s not their fault they have a learning disability. People are born with a learning disability. I’m working full time but I face a lot of areas when it comes to my learning disability.”
Ismail also criticised the government for focusing on saving money and not on people’s lives. “Money comes and goes but people should be at the centre of everything,” he said“The government is paying benefits to people and they should come first.”
‘It feels like the government wants disabled people to be silenced’
Jade Cotton, 37, who has cerebral palsy, is blind and non-verbal, said she feels like the government wants disabled people like her to be “silenced”. She receives £276 every two weeks in Employment and Support Allowance and £434 every four weeks in PIP. She said the monthly allowance – which comes to just under £1,000 – already isn’t “sufficient”.
During the height of the cost of living, Jade couldn’t afford to charge her electric wheelchair every night due to the costs. “My benefits barely cover the bills and food shop as it is – they just come in then go out again, so it is concerning,” she said about the announcement.
Jade, who lives in Birmingham, said it is a “good thing” the government has said they will do more to get disabled people into work but questioned whether they will actually follow through with action. She continued: “Sometimes it feels like the government wants disabled people like myself to be silenced, but we won’t be silent at all.
“We are here to stay and we will not be silenced by anyone. If you want disabled people to get employment, then you need to provide suitable jobs for all disabled people and provide more disability employment advisors in every single job centre.”
‘It’s difficult to survive on benefits as it is’
Mo Azeem, 40, who is visually impaired, said it is so “frustrating” that the Government is focusing on cutting people’s benefits instead of creating job opportunities for disabled people. He receives £161 a week in Employment and Support Allowance and £737 a month in PIP, for the combined living care and mobility allowances, which he uses to meet his basic living costs and connect with the community.
Mo, who lives in Smethwick in the West Midlands, has been battling to find a job for years but has been constantly knocked back. “I’ve had rejections after every time I’ve had an interview so it’s always demoralising and stressful,” he said.
Mo said he has experienced many people all going for the same vacancy and that it is “double-difficult for a disabled person” to apply – especially when applications or assessments are not in an accessible format. And he questioned whether ministers will keep to their promise to help people like him into work. “They say they’re gonna create pathways for people with disabilities but saying it and doing it are two different things,” he said.
He said it was already “difficult to use whatever you’re getting from the benefits to survive”. And talking about the cuts, he said: “It’s frustrating. It’s stressful because we are living people. We want to get out and about and enjoy our daily lives. This government they’re planning on taking that away from us by making these cuts. I will find it really difficult.
“It’s going to have a huge effect on my mental and physical health. I don’t know how somewhere down the line I’m doing to handle stuff. I might go into depression. They should have at least, before they made the announcement today, taken a step back and reconsidered some of their decisions today.”
‘Rats would steal the food off my plate’
Paul Doyle, 49, from Newcastle, was working flat out as a carer with two jobs until he was struck down with ill health which meant he was forced to give up the work he loved around six years ago. Since then, both his physical and mental health have severely deteriorated. He now receives £1,300 a month in Personal Independence Payments and Universal Credit, £300 of which is taken up with carers who he now relies on for many aspects of everyday life.
Paul said shockingly: “Before they came, rats would steal the food off my plate. If you can’t even get dressed and make a meal for yourself, then dealing with a rat infestation is completely beyond my capabilities.”
He has been left fearing cuts to his benefits, or that they will not increase with living costs. He said: “I’m dreading what will happen, I’m constantly worried. It’s like having the Sword of Damocles hanging over me. People have this view that those on benefits are just sitting on their backside but I can tell you, from my own experience, you’re potentially one health problem away, two paychecks, whatever, from being on benefits too.
“The worry about what’s going to happen with PIP isn’t helping my mental health. We just need to know what’s going on. Without PIP, I don’t know how I’d manage. I’d love to work again, and I feel like I’m grieving the person I was. But I know I’ll never work again because I have too many things wrong with me, including one terminal diagnosis. Even just getting through each day feels like an achievement.”
‘Bonus that long assessments will be scrapped’
Meanwhile Des Longstaff, 39, who is living with terminal cancer, described the Government’s decision to scrap the assessment process for people living with lifelong conditions as “a bonus”. Des, from Lytham St Annes in Lancashire, was diagnosed with stage 4 advanced oesophageal adenocarcinoma on December 23 last year and was told by doctors he may only have 12 months to live.
He said he welcomes Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall’s decision to help disabled people living with a lifelong condition after he spent one hour and 40 minutes on the phone with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to apply for PIP. “I had to prove that I only had 12 months to live and that was a bit outrageous. When I’m poorly, I’m having to go through all this stress on top of the stress of being poorly,” he said.
He said being without PIP would be “a total disaster” but added Ms Kendall’s decision to scrap the assessment process “would help really… you don’t have to go through all the messing and stuff like that, that’d be a bonus.” Mr Longstaff created a Go Fund Me with the aim of raising more than £44,000 to fund life-changing treatment in Germany and hopes the fundraiser will “open people’s eyes about oesophageal cancer because it’s not a common cancer”.
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