How likely are PIP vouchers now labour are in?

Agreed. I feel it needs to be just for the most disabled, although of course how you define that is the problem. I think they may make some changes to the mobility component. So many people going past state retirement age with this mobility component and it not being available to people making a new claim for Attendance Allowance is problematic. You can have someone aged 65 getting higher rate mobility saying they can't leave the house alone / having panic attacks etc for MH issues getting enhanced mobility and another person a year older who has a catastrophic stroke and is bedbound being able to get no mobility component and having to actually wait six full months to get any kind of disability benefit. I'm not minimizing the younger persons issues but it is extremely unfair and it would not surprise me if things change.

I'm like getting worried I'm not really sleeping coz I'm worried

PIP is generally (and I say 'generally' because there are always loopholers) very tricky to get.

3.4 million people get it. Thats 1 in 20 of the population. Its not that tricky to get.

Labour haven't really said what changes ( if any) they will make to PIP yet but I believe there will be some reform as the current numbers receiving it seem unsustainable. I very much doubt vouchers would be implemented though. I think more likely changes to the PIP descriptors so that less people actually qualify ?

I wouldn't worry. I can't see how it possibly be implemented in any kind of functional way, and I don't think Labour are as prepared to spend huge amounts of money and time on hopeless projects just to get some favourable headlines in the Daily Mail as the Tories.

Yes, I volunteered for a couple of years helping people with benefits applications, and I thought this at the time - we were helping the people who could cope with accessing help. The most vulnerable would be unable to, unless they had family or friends to support them. Very sad (and frustrating) situation.

So anyone think this going to happen

This countrys not the same as it used to be the cons want jailing the lot of the torie bastards

If the last government had actually had a genuine interest in getting disabled people into work, as opposed to simply kicking them off benefits, they wouldn’t have had such a push on ending wfh.

Since Covid my DD’s Pt hybrid role in the civil service became full wfh. On the basis of wfh she was offered the chance to work full time instead of part time, which she took, and then she was able to move to a better paid job. She came off all benefits other than PIP.

Now that they’re going back to having to be in the office at least 60% of the time she’ll have to drop back to PT. She’s been told no exemptions will be made, and that’s despite the fact her team leader is open that her stats are consistently high.

JCB - whose owners were considerable donors to the Tories - have all but scrapped wfh across the board. Even in teams with no drop of outcomes.

I did that too. It was published long before the general election.

The vouchers are a non starter. Completely unworkable.

@whinginglittlefucker well we can all breathe sigh of relief because 1 in 4 disabled people absolutely do not meet the current criteria to receive disability benefits.

The level of ability you refer to - tube feeding, saliva suctioning, turning (assuming bedridden) - is beyond that that PIP is meant to support in the community with the aid of frequently unpaid carers and more like the level of care that would require care in a specialised setting with paid carers.

PIP enables people to remain living as independently as possible in the community. You actually have stricter criteria than PIP assessors in suggesting that the truly disabled are like helpless babies that have to pay for carers to feed them, change them, dress them etc. At least assessors are bound by criteria of assistance, timeliness, reliability etc and don't require complete inability. Let's not forget that paid carers are often not involved but that this level of independence is often only possible due to the financial sacrifice of unpaid carers.

Even without unpaid carers, care in the community is cheaper.

You don't get to throw your hands up in the air and declare 'we can't afford it' without at least proposing an alternative. Changing the criteria of who qualifies won't magic away need. How will that need be met?

If you really want to save money whilst recognising need do not reassess people with lifelong conditions every 3 years as if hoping for a miracle, assess properly with adequately qualified staff in a timely fashion and avoid costly tribunals which is often the first time cases are assessed by adequately qualified staff. So much taxpayers money is wasted trying to block justified claims as a supposed deterrent to unjustified claims that don't exist.

This!

Vouchers are to reward donors - not help maintain independence.

It would increase costs to remove current system.

Fix underlying issues!

PIP helps me work. I can’t work a full week and PIP payments help me financially to work less than 40hrs per week.

if I didn’t have PIP to support me I wouldn’t be able to work as I wouldn’t be able to pay my bills and I can’t work full time due to my disabilities.

I'm also a bingo card as I work from home on a flexi contract to fit around my capabilities.

work is my lifeline and I would lose this without the support of PIP

In addition, It's quite ironic that you refer to PIP as something people get 'trapped into' or dependent on. The Tories sold it as a benefit that people get to help them be more independent 'personal independence payment'.

FYI, plenty of people who get PIP also work. It helps them work.

The fact that people don’t know this shows that a lot of people have no understanding of what it’s actually like to live with a disability.

Some of what you say makes sense but people with disabilities simply don't fit into neat little boxes. And invisible disabilities are something you'll have no understanding of unless you have one yourself or you look after someone who has. Therefore you can't 'draw lines' as such on such a complex issue.

Not every disabled person gets pip. That 1 in 4 will also include children and pensioners.

This is one brilliant and concise post.

The faux naive ‘I think anyone who needs it should get it..’ is so disingenuous as to be cowardly

@TigerRag if 1 in 4 people are disabled to the extent of needing state financial support over and above what is available to non disabled people we are sunk.

Ability is a continuum - on the one side people who are at the peak of physical and mental fitness, on the other people who need help with all bodily functions eg breathing, suctioning saliva, tube feeding, turning and all aspects of daily living. The vast majority of us fall somewhere between. A line has to be drawn as to who warrants state support and who doesn't. People who warrant support are then "entitled" to it. The majority of us have to work, support ourselves and pay tax. This is harder for some people than others and finding ways for as many people as possible to work is a perfectly legitimate policy aim, for any party.
Young people are vulnerable to difficulty making their way independently and experiencing unprecedented mental distress. COVID had a massive impact, plus the fact that average earned income is no where near enough to fund a stable home, and a modest life eg adequate food, heat, etc. and marketing and advertising on social media is pernicious and makes people who are forming their identity feel like failures. The solution isn't to give people PIP that traps them in dependency but to find ways to help young people to work.
People who actually need someone to physically care for them, to feed them, change them, dress them, help them to get about etc (which is what lots of people believe disability is, rather than the "hidden disabilites" we now talk of) are poorest of all, because under care charging policies they contribute huge amounts of their PIP towards their care costs.
I'm not convinced there's enough revenue from these evil tax dodging corrupt big businesses to pay PIP for 1 in 4 people, for life.

Sorry to go off on a tangent, but what do you mean that Labour are looking at scrapping the WCA?

Not worrying im beside my self iff this happens whats the point i dont have much very rearly leave the house when i do uts in a taxi or ambulance to hospital or doctors

It works the other way too my son was awarded MRC at three for 13 years which meant we didn't have to reapply until PIP! LRM was added on when he was five
However it became increasingly apparent his disabilities were very complex
And children with less needs than him were getting higher awards but because he had such a long award I was reluctant to do
COC
To cut a long story short I did eventually do a COC when he was nine and after going to tribunal he was eventually awarded HRC and HRM under SMI rules.

Well I think that they give the reasons for whatever length they award, in the letter they send to the claimant@Miley1967 . I am under no illusion that the system needs to be reformed though.

There is no reason. On a waiting list, possibly 2-3 years wait ( knee replacement )

This. I would have thought that one would have to be significantly disabled to have been awarded this level.

Maybe there is a reason that surgery could not be performed on your client for whatever reason, hence the long award?