How likely are PIP vouchers now labour are in?

[CatOnALightSwitch]

Just as the title says really.

It doesn't affect me as I don't claim any benefits and work full time however my son and mother are on PIP and I'm not sure how vouchers would work for them and I'm a little bit worried.

I know there is previous threads on this but I can't see any being mentioned now labour is in.

Is it worth worrying about or is it a wait and see what happens situation?

Thanks all.

Err, the Tories are to blame for the shambles that is PIP actually.

Very much depends on your postcode. It's not online in my area

I actually don't think that not claiming DLA/PIP where there is a reasonable chance someone should be in receipt of it, is all that helpful.

Claiming these benefits is a major way our government actually understands the need for them. If people don't claim, the picture formed is that of less need than actually exists.

I don't claim, as I lack the strength to go through with the process.... and a lot of people do attempt to claim, and get turned down, and never bother trying again.

It's not an easy process. I requested the form 3 times online before I actually went ahead and completed it. Partly that's due to a mental struggle in acknowledging that I have a disability from previously being very fit and active, and partly due the horror stories of interviewers who try to catch you out. And mine definitely did, she asked me the same questions in different ways to try to catch me out, I was in tears by the end. But they did grant it, and it's been really helpful to have the award, not just for the money but it helps me gets queue jumps, sears at standing events etc, so my life and that of my children is my easier

No online pip in my area. Handwritten forms. Handwriting is nigh on impossible for me

We get DLA for DS. £150/mth goes on swimming and a McDonald's afterwards as it's that or he would never bath/shower or change his clothes. He will not wash. He wears the same clothes day and night. It covers the cost of petrol for taking him to and from school and to appointments.

He puts holes in his clothes as soon as we buy them, whether from falling over or chewing on them.

Can't take him out anywhere unless I can afford a Costa because that's a safe place for him if he gets dysregulated - luckily they are everywhere.

It all adds up, and DH can't work a proper job due to needing to be free to drive DS around. The DLA has made a huge difference to us.

I too completed this questionnaire .
However it is a questionnaire that asks for our views on how the system can be changed , it only implies and says what do you think are pros and cons of voucher system . It’s just data collection . The whole thing was proposed by tories . It’s still under consultation.
nothing has been approved , set in stone or revealed . It’s all speculation and fear mongering at the moment

Exactly. There was no need to change it from DLA because at the time, in 2010 the DWP themselves were saying that fraud rate was really low for DLA.

They changed it for no other reason than to demonise and take resources away from disabled people because that’s who they target.

I believe the reason for changing DLA was money. They wanted to do away with lifetime awards because apparently it meant too many weren't reporting changes and it meant they were on a higher award than they should be.

But it was rare to get a lifetime award anyway.

I've just had a client awarded for ten years. She applied just before turning state retirement age ( about two weeks before). She has a condition which with surgery could hugely improve yet has been awarded for ten years. It baffles me why they would do this.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

@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.

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

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

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.

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.

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