So they want to replace PIP/DLA money with vouchers?

[moneyinthebinthatsmrtim]

I don't understand it. It is really worrying me.

This payment helps pay for so many things. I doubt these vouchers would cover that, or give the freedom to shop or buy from where you want or need to.

I included DLA because it's really just the child's version of PIP. Eventually, my profoundly disabled child will be an adult and will have to be on PIP

Is there really any truth in this? I can't see any articles directly quoting Labour or Conservative. I might just be in such a worry that I have missed that bit

Apologies if there is another thread on this too. I am happy to get this one taken off if that's the case

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/pip-disability-benefits-plan-rishi-government-critics-b2537209.html

I’ve worked in mental health for the last 20 years. I’d say that for most people on PIP it gets absorbed into the cost of living. I could count on one hand the clients I’ve met who’ve used it to self-fund specialist therapy or activities that improve their wellbeing (like personal training and gym membership/someone to help around the house). The question is really whether people should be accountable for what they spend that money on. Is it seen as their money that they can spend on whatever they like (even unwise choices) or public money (and should be accountable for spending it ‘wisely’)? I don’t have the answer

Thankfully the Tories won't be in power soon, so it won't happen. It's another one of their horrific ideas, that make then look even worse.

Recent report from gov.uk on levels of fraud across a number of different benefits put PIP as by far the least often used fraudulently at 0.4%, so there is really no reason to think that PIP is frequently abused. The recent announcements re PIP are just the usual Tory trope of punching down to create division and resentment, this time targeting the disabled. I'm not saying PIP is never misused, but the vast majority of claims are legitimate and necessary- and vouchers is just a ridiculous and unworkable idea.

Imagine the extra admin for the business trying to cash in the voucher. It would delay cash flow for them as well as the management of it all.

my friend uses her pip as described above, replacing things that her child is heavy handed with, picks at or damaged when they attempt cooking or cleaning.

There was a report earlier this year suggesting that the DWP's hardline approach to jobseekers had pushed a lot of people into applying for PIP.

These were people who had never previously claimed for their conditions, but they felt they had no choice because the job centre rules were too rigid and they weren't getting the support they needed to stay/get back into the workforce.

This will never happen PIP and Dla is awarded for such a wide spectrum of circumstances and conditions that vouchers will never work ever.

Vile. It’s like food stamps in America, anyone who uses them will be sneered at.
I cried when I read an article about disabled people being made to do star jumps and being humiliated when they were applying for PIP. To the poster who made the horrible comments you need to educate yourself.

Some people my in laws would love this idea to stop all the benefit fraud and people going to Disneyland and having sky tv 🙄

Correct, the new system has cost more and given more people the benefit then the 0.2% fraud they were trying to stop... typical government project.

The same as UC, it would be a good idea if it was ran by anyone else but the public sector but instead ran over by many years and cost ten times as much!

A perfect example of the Tory government's ineptitude! If they offered support these people wouldn't have applied for PIP.

I hope they all do get the help they need but the reality is they are unlikely to and it will cost more money to deny them the help they need and deserve than it would be to give them the money.

@RicePuddingWithCinnamon there's people at my work like this too. Knowing how hard it is to get pip these days, I know that there are hardly any cases like that. My sister is SEN and the carers at her flats are indeed taking some of them to Disneyland Paris. Good for them too, hope they enjoy it.

People need to punch up not punch down
Tax fraud, rather than benefit fraud would be a start

Its a dog whistle policy from the Tories to rile up more hatred in the hope that numbskulls will vote for them. See also Immigration.

It’s a stupid idea. Costly and unnecessary. If pip is really being spent in ways that don’t support independence then the people receiving it obviously don’t need it.

Oh this has made me so angry! The utter cunts. It’s unlikely to happen, I guess, but I agree with PP that the plan will be to discourage and demonise rather than help. And some Tory cunt will make money out of it.

My daughter wasn’t required to do star jumps for hers, because her disability isn’t physical; but my friend’s report said she could walk a certain distance and was was capable of various other things that her assessor hadn’t seen her do and hadn’t even asked her about. None of which she could do. She had to go to appeal in a building that was very poorly designed for disabled people.

A PP was right that PIP is a very abused system, but not by the claimants.

PIP is very abused system in my opinion though.

Well, anyone @MaryMaryVeryContrary, can have an opinion, can't they? But if all the hard, objective evidence contradicts that opinion, then it's weak as water. It's nothing.

It's a disgraceful and dehumanising system @MaryMaryVeryContrary and made worse by opinions like yours. No one chooses to be disabled or to be pared down to their symptoms and assessed on what they are unableto do ffs!

Exactly my opinion too - I would be happy for someone to go to Disneyland who bloody deserves it and they do. The carers deserve it too, it’s incredibly hard work.

@RicePuddingWithCinnamon thank you. That comment has really lifted me

I feel so worthless sometimes that I cannot work in the traditional sense anymore. I simply cannot A. Find the care needed for my son whilst I do and B. Have the emotional and physically strength.

I feel like a fraud sometimes if I sit down with a can of drink whilst he's at school instead of usually running around like a headless chicken, cleaning, catching up on vital sleep

It is a very difficult life.

Awful grammar in that last post! Apologies. I blame the sleep deprivation

I am sure you are doing really well. You should be proud of yourself and not feeling guilty at all. You are working 24/7 emotionally and physically. 💐

Unfortunately pip is not a well designed benefit because it favours those able to fill in forms in the right way and have certain disabilities and not others. My dd can walk, she can talk, she can wash but has crippling anxiety that mean leaving the house and even getting out of bed can be a problem, she regularly won't eat and the energy it takes to prepare a meal is too much (ping her favourite ready meal or ordering pizza might tempt her 48 hours of not eating). She doesn't qualify because she only gets 6 points (up from 3 before revision) because it's a tick box benefit that doesn't look at the whole person and I was honest, others I know lie on the form and think I'm stupid not to.

The Conservative government initiated the PIP consultation being conducted by the DWP. Nothing changes unless the then government changes the law following the consultation. Given that there seems no way that the Conservatives will be forming the next government, this is a non-issue. I really can't imagine a new Labour government implementing a policy dreamed up by the Conservstives which will give rise to endless headlines about the negative impact on disabled adults and children.

I agree that the voucher system would be unworkable. I use my PIP to pay for a support worker because my council refuses to fund it. Without that support worker taking care of my personal life I'd be too fatigued to work. So they'd save the PIP, but have to pay me other benefits instead and lose the tax I'm currently paying which is way more than the PIP.

But it's not means tested, and even for the richest people it's worth claiming because it's often seen as a gateway benefit to accessing things which disabled people might need when trying to live as ordinary a life as possible. In order to access areas at venues you quite often need to prove your disability and the proof request comes in the form of PIP...

It’s really hard on all front - government trying to do the right things whilst cost could simply be too high to be sustainable as a society, if this BBC program is accurate. A system to involve in the super rich or big organisations for charitable donations etc would make better outcome than squeeze regular people for higher council tax or other taxes.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001xgql/panorama-paying-more-for-less-councils-in-crisis

But how do you define “supporting independence”? It will look different for everyone.

for some it will help them be able to cover their monthly bills, for others it will pay for therapy, for others it may pay towards a holiday which meets their needs.

the PIP system is a nightmare to navigate and more likely leads to people NOT getting the support they need rather than getting more than is deemed as right for their disability.