People will need to score at least four points in a category to qualify for daily living personal independence payments (PIP) support, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall has announced today.
Speaking in Parliament, Liz Kendall announced the government’s plans for “significant reform” to the welfare system and save £5 billion by 2029/30.
The planned changes mean people will need to score at least four points in any category in order to qualify for the daily living component of PIP. This will not affect the mobility component.
Disability charities have widely criticised the decision which will effectively tighten the eligibility for PIP, saying it is “immoral” and “devastating”, and warning that it will push disabled people into poverty.
Epilepsy Action warned that cutting the benefit that helps disabled people manage daily life is “damaging” and counterproductive for getting people into work.
In the announcement, Liz Kendall added that there are no plans to means test or freeze PIP (which would essentially cut the benefit by not increasing it with inflation).
She said the government will launch a review of the assessment for PIP in consultation with disabled people, the organisations that represent them and other experts.
‘Not disabled enough’
Alison Fuller, director of Health Improvement and Influencing at Epilepsy Action, said: “If the government wants to get more people with disabilities into work, this just isn’t the way to do it.
“For people with epilepsy, it’s hard enough to get PIP as it is. We’ve heard too many stories over the years of people feeling really alienated by the process, and having to ‘prove’ they actually have a disability. Being made to feel ‘they’re not disabled enough’.
“And the assessment is one of the most difficult parts. We have said time and time again that this should change. But not in this way. We think that more weight should be given to the views of the individual’s healthcare professionals about the impact of their health condition, not what the assessor says. Now, it sounds like people are going to have to fight even more to achieve a higher score when being assessed.
“Also, PIP is paid to help people with a disability offset the extra costs of living with the condition. Claimants don’t have to be out of work to receive it. The rhetoric that cutting disability benefits is going to help more people into work is just damaging. Plus, lots of people with epilepsy need PIP precisely to manage all aspects of life, which includes getting to work.”
The issues to address
Surveys conducted by Epilepsy Action have shown that people with epilepsy face a number of pressing challenges when it comes to employment. Of employers, 42% admitted that they would be inclined not to hire someone with epilepsy to save their company potential challenges, even though they know this is discrimination.
Among surveys of people with epilepsy, 40% said their employers refused to provide reasonable adjustments, 60% said they’d faced discrimination at work because of their epilepsy and 28% had been given disciplinaries because of seizures.
Alison Fuller continued: “Epilepsy has the second-highest disability pay gap, at 26.9%. People with epilepsy still get discriminated against when trying to find or stay in a job. Too many employers are not willing to give people with epilepsy reasonable adjustments – 40% of people with epilepsy have told us this is the case. These are the issues to address.
“People shouldn’t be punished for having a condition, or being made to feel like their quality of life can be sacrificed to make ‘savings’. For people with epilepsy, anxiety and stress are major seizure triggers. This could potentially make this worse for so many people, not knowing if their independence, the very thing this benefit should be supporting, could be stripped away.
“We will respond to the consultation, and urge everyone who could be affected to do the same, as well as sharing the issue with their MP.”
Further reforms
Alongside changes to PIP, Liz Kendall announced that the work capability assessment for the health-related part of universal credit will be scrapped and incorporated into the PIP assessment.
People aged under 22 years won’t be able to claim the health-related “top up” of Universal Credit, given to people if their health condition or disability limits their ability to work. This saving will help fund “high-quality, tailored and personalised support” to help them get into work, Kendall said.
Universal Credit claimants will see an increase higher than inflation of £7, but the health elements rates for people already claiming will freeze, and will be halved for new claimants.
The government will introduce a new benefit called ‘Unemployment Insurance’, which will be “time-limited” and intends to provide “stronger income protection during periods of unemployment for those with a recent work record”.
There will also be a right to try, which will protect disabled claimants’ entitlement to benefits if they try to get into work but it doesn’t turn into long-term employment.
We want to hear from you! What are your thoughts on the benefits reforms? What are your experiences with PIP? Email press@epilepsy.org.uk and share your views.