Taxes to rise to fund PIP 2

[Viviennemary]

I saw the other thread was full. Still I look forward to the vote which is on Tuesday. Sky news called him two Tier Keir. Most unfair thing ever if this passes.

My son is autistic, I am fortunate that one day he may work.

He may always need benefits in some form or other though.

What may happen though is that his reliance on PIP and UC will decline and he won’t need as much.

Currently at 22 his income is around £1000 a month. This is made up of PIP (enhanced daily care and mobility) plus UC and LCWRA, Initially I was shocked, as for a 20yr old whe still lived at home it seemed outrageous.

However it coincided with an assessment by the social care LD team. He now has 12 hrs of PA help a week. £650 of the £1000 goes directly to employing his PA.

He has also been accepted onto an inclusive employment scheme and has a work coach dedicated to helping him find his first job. He is now 22 and I can see him really making strides now…he’s on the cusp of being ready for employment.

He won’t always need the mobility component of PIP and that’s likely to change in the next five years. With greater independence he might not need the enhanced daily living part either.

My issue is that he will always have greater need for support than someone without his disability. I already see people struggling who don’t have my son’s support . If PIP is to be made harder to get then there must be investment in support for those who will no longer be eligible but who will still have significant needs.

They are all over the place with this. They will bankrupt the place and the spin on near defeat by MPs is ridiculous.

I think this is a really good point. Rather than focusing on people with less needs not getting PIP because they should be working or managing themselves, why not focus on what this group need to get into work or stay in work and how that could be managed without direct financial support. Maybe the reason so many need PIP is because they can’t access work and the community without it. Break down those barriers and you have levelled the playing field with more dignity and equality for all. It’s a huge job though. It’s incredibly difficult to explain just how hard and expensive it is to be disabled in the UK.

Oh dear. People always reveal how they feel, with their careless words.

Also regarding holidays. For me a holiday consists of going around the city. Walking around. Seeing the sites. Going out for dinner.

If someone is so disabled they cannot work they obviously cannot do this right? And for them a holiday would just be sitting by a pool (not swimming in it) and taking in the sun. To me (personally) that's not a holiday, can't you do this more locally?

DSA isn't money. You do get money back if you had to pay for things such as extra travel, printer ink, etc

I haven't been on holiday in over 10 years as my disabilities dont allow for it also i wouldnt be able to get the time of work as i use all my holidays on appointments but people have completely different types of disabilities. For eg if you have no arms you absolutely can walk around a city.

I was talking about someone that unfortunately is completely signed off work.

So off sick not on disability benefit. Because you can work and claim pip i do.

Yes.

I do not want to see disability benefits cut but I would like cuts somewhere, I do have a question promoted by something I read on here though.

Do people need evidence from a qualified medical professional to claim disability benefits? Plus does it have to be from someone who is employed by the NHS or can it be from a Private practitioner?

The way a post was written on here a while ago, it seemed like this person was claiming to have a condition but hadn’t been formally diagnosed, surely that must be incorrect?

The only person I know who claims PIP was a highly qualified professional who has a diagnosed condition that is so bad now she is bed bound completely and it’s physically impossible for her to walk more than a few steps.

I have found via my sons needs and also via my own job that there are some fab organisations out there who help people.

For my son this is an organisation called Get Set UK who focus entirely on ND clients .

However I also have dealings with an organisation called Employability who help those with physical or MH issues into work and to keep their jobs too.

Access to work will even fund transport if the only job my son could do is 20 miles away and the journey via public transport is too complex.

When I talk to young people who have never worked and who have MH issues my goal is to help them look ahead. They could live to be 100, they need something to fill their lives for the next 40-60 years. For some the MH issues are exacerbated because they have no structure to their week. It leaves a lot of time to fill.

However, the flip side is that many employers don’t want these youngsters. As my son’s job coach said “we used to help youngsters get jobs stacking shelves, but supermarkets don’t want this anymore, they have to be able to do everything now.”

That said my son’s friend pushes trolleys for Tesco plus one or two other bits so it’s hopeful that once they are in the door and employers get to know them then things change

You get people take carers with them and plan accordingly?

So my aunt is a wheelchair user, will take someine who can assist her with toileting, bathing and feeding whilst she is away. She will book suitable accommodation and will plan rest breaks, she will also accept that one day or two day might be 'wasted days' if something flares up. lots of tourist sites have options to come round a different entrance or at quiet times, and reduced fees so if you have to make a visit over two days rather than doing it in a day.

None of this means you can work necessarily. Obviously lots of people do. But look around your workplace? If no one has carers in helping with toileting, is your employer doing there bit?

Yes you do need evidence. My evidence was from my NHS doctor and consultant. I was told both were frabicated by my "assessor". But that was coming from someone who claimed I've grown out of my sensorineural hearing loss which is physically impossible..(the hair in my ears is damaged)

I can only answer for pip but yes you need medical evidence from consultants, carers, physios, psychiatrists, cpn etc. I doubt they would accept or take notice of evidence from private healthcare. You do need to send a significant amount of evidence. Technically You dont need a diagnosis but you do need proof from medical professionals of how it impacts your life and medication lists, treatment you have recieved aids you use etc. I think you would have a significantly higher chance of being turned down without a diagnosis

You fill out an application form that details everything you can/can’t do and it’s scored. Then they add up the points and you get an amount of money based on how difficult things are for you. It’s reviewed regularly so if you get better at something then you lose those points. Everything has to be supported by evidence. Letters from consultants and sometimes school or therapists or people you know (obviously your priest saying you struggle to take communion has less weight than you neurologist saying you have XYorZ), lots of people often have a face to face or telephone interview too.

It’s an utterly soul destroying process to hold up all your deficits to the light, but necessary and most disabled people I know struggle a bit around renewal time.

PIP is a bloody nightmare to claim, even with loads of medical evidence. My son’s evidence is via his consultant and the GP.

My son’s intitial form ran to over 50 pages but tbf they just awarded and didn’t even ask to see him.

That was at 16 though. A she gets older things may change for him.

My friends have two adult non verbal autistic sons who will always need care. They have10 year awards and rightly so.

You don't need a formal diagnosis, because sometimes we dont know why people are ill. Some very severely disabled people have no diagnosis or are awaiting a diagnosis. We know more and more about genetics so you hear more people finding out about a specific micro deletion but that hasn't always been the case. Some chronic conditions can take 7 years to diagnose.

You do need evidence.

Hi, it's not 'my' research, it's Dr Arun Advani, at the Centre for the Analysis of Taxation and University of Warwick. I assume he knows a bit more about it than me. Thank you for taking the time to read my post. In answer to your question, Norways' state wealth tax rate is 0.475% and is calculated based on assets exceeding a net capital tax basis of NOK 1,760,000 (£127,265.60) for single/not married taxpayers and NOK 3,520,000 (£254,578.44) for spouses. For net wealth in excess of NOK 20,700,000 (£1,497,172.42) the rate is 0.575%. Thus, the maximum wealth tax rate is 1.1%. Not really comparable to the £10m 'allowance' before wealth tax is charged on what is over £10m. The research has factored in those who are affected moving and the figure of £24b takes that into account. I'm not an economist, statistician or particularly financially trained. So I may be wrong, happy to accept that. I just think that there are other ways that money can be raised other than making cuts to the welfare state.

• In Great Britain, social security spending in the 2025-26 financial year is forecast to be £316.1 billion, representing 10.6% of GDP and 23.5% of total government spending. This includes £174.9 billion on benefits for pensioners and £141.2 billion on working-age and children's welfare. £75.3 billion on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions, and £35.3 billion on housing benefits. Social spending as a share of GDP has generally declined in OECD countries over the past decade. In UK Living Standards Review 2025, the NIESR also highlights that: the UK has some of the least generous welfare across the OECD: the UK ranks in the middle of OECD countries for welfare spending (as a per cent of GDP) and third lowest for welfare value (per cent of average wages);13 Mar 2025

• Since the pandemic, the number of PIP awards has more than doubled – up from 13,000 a month to 34,000 a month. That is around 1,000 people signing on to PIP every day – that is roughly the size of Leicester signing up every year.

Gov.UK

Which given waiting lists really isn't that much of a surprise

Exactly. That is why the Government needs to be sorting out the problems in the NHS. The waiting list for services is part of the reason some people get more sick, or become disabled, in the first place. They need to deal with the root causes, it is imperative that they do that.

I wonder how much of it IS covid related? We know the death toll was horrendous but surely for every person who lost their lives there must have been many more who were disabled by it? I don’t mean long covid (though that too I guess. I mean people who experienced irreversible damage. Then there’s those who were untreated in the covid years and as a result have become disabled by other conditions.

You are conflating two separate issues.

Is there a scenario where you would accept that people take ownership for their own life choices and decisions? Please spare us the story of a quadriplegic or someone born blind etc - such people are fully deserving of support, no question.