PIP cuts- what happens next?

[Orangesandlemons77]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp3q7584v07o

So this goes to a vote next month? What then does anyone know please?

How would anybody know? They have not decided anything yet, as you can see from the link that you have posted. It is a waiting game.

Sorry I'm just a bit anxious as I'm sure many are. I read 170 MPs have written to say they won't support them, how many would it take for it not to pass I wonder

Also I was wondering if it does pass this vote, what then e.g. would it go to the House of Lords? I wondered if anyone knew, that's all.

Ok, I don't know the answers to that, but I will say that I really hope that they will not get the support in the house, that they need to take it to the next stage. It really is wrong what they are trying to do. They would do better to look at the way that the assessments are being carried out. There are savings to be made there, imo. This reform with the 4 points being put out there so early, has caused so many people to worry, which is, of course, not good for anybody's health.

I agree. It's really concerning, and I don't feel it has been properly thought through. I guess we'll just need to wait and see what happens, I understand this vote is next month so quite soon.

I'm currently going through a PIP review myself and I had a couple of '4s' last time but know they can be whipped away with a new 'assessment' so wondering whether to appeal them, if needed.

If you feel that you have not been awarded the level of help that you should, or you have been reduced on review, then by all means put in for a mandatory reconsideration as your first port of call. I do think that very few people are 'safe' when it comes to benefits like these. The goalposts can always be moved, at the mercy of the people who make these decisions. They did it already with the mobility component when they changed from DLA to PIP.

Thanks, I will do (I have had to appeal in the past, and last review had it overturned before appeal stage)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34631156

I remember this, wonder if something like this might happen

Well having done a u turn on winter fuel payments, and then the recent talk of dropping the 2 child benefit cap, I’d hope that they do similar with the proposed pip changes.

Dh thinks the opposite, and that now they won’t go back on what they’ve proposed with the pip changes as well.

Imagine how it’ll look though, deciding not to penalise the elderly and families after all, but still going after the disabled. I’m not saying it’ll stop them but surely Labour can see how bad that would look

The ‘four point rule’ disproportionately affects more women than men, I read, as women are more likely to have lots of 2s and a 3. (I think it was via the Benefits & Work website.)

It also disproportionately affects the constituencies with new ‘red wall’ Labour MPs.

It’s going to be massively disruptive to Labour if Rayner isn’t happy.

@Orangesandlemons77 Procedurally, the bill has to have a number of readings in the Commons and undergo scrutiny in the Lords (and presumably in select committee) before it becomes an Act of Parliament. Royal Assent seals the deal. I think the passage of this statute may not be smooth.

Since writing this post, I have just had a PIP review and they have cut my 4 point scores to 2. I'm unsure whether to appeal yet as overall my points still reach 12.

I'm considering it though for the future

Thanks for explaining

How come the cuts to winter fuel payments didn't have to go to a vote but this does.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/policy/publications/pathways-to-poverty-how-planned-cuts-to-disability-benefits-will-impact-the/

Just been reading this- scary

I presume because the PIP alterations and cuts involve a change to the legal statute, i.e. the wording of the Act of Parliament that created PIP and its rules.

Things like winter fuel payments and Christmas bonuses are, I think, seen as just that - bonuses, i.e. as discretionary payments in the gift of the Secretary of State and Ministers. I may of course be completely wrong.

I thought it did go to the HOC and HOL. There were quite a few MPs from both sides opposing but it still got through quite comfortably.

You can lobby your MP individually and fill n the line consultation form.

Online consultation form
https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=6fbxllcQF0GsKIDN_ob4w8sPhcBFC_lLibLhGndbUv9UN0Y4UTYzNUVVM0lFUThFWFM3VVEwSFJPMCQlQCN0PWcu&route=shorturl

Find your MP and contact them

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/

Thanks, yes I have already emailed the MP and got a supportive reply.

@Orangesandlemons77the report from citizens advice just tells it as it really is - which no one wants to acknowledge. Cutting around 50% of the income of a lot of disabled people.

WFA and cap on CB pales into insignificance in comparison.

So many of us have accepted incorrect PIP assessment due to overall score. I accepted a 4 for my autistic housebound son on mixing with other people as he had support workers who disappeared post Covid past age 19. He’s now 24 and with no support is an 8. But his award keeps being passed with no review. So he’s still at 4. His review is overdue and passed for another year but I will appeal if it is reduced with no evidence of improvement and despite evidence to the contrary.

OP I don’t know what you were awarded 4 for and why it’s been reduced but I would appeal now if there is no rationale for this. Appealing once PIP has been removed due to moving of the goalposts is less likely to be taken seriously.

We would be severely impacted if DS were arbitrarily downgraded to a 2 (there is no 3) as this would impact on PIP, ESA and CA. His disability needs would not be met as unfunded and we would be plunged into poverty.

It’s like a cunning plan - only pay PIP to those scoring a 4 but make it almost impossible to score 4.

It’s like a cunning plan - only pay PIP to those scoring a 4 but make it almost impossible to score 4.

This. They will save absolutely nothing, with the amount of appeals going to expensive tribunals. I hope that they will be employing more workers to tackle the extra workload that will result, if these changes are pushed through.

I had 4 for taking nutrition, preparing food and support with socialising. Mainly given my appeals then taken away by DWP.

It's so stressful isn't it. Part of me just wants to leave it as it is as the MR/appeals process is stressful- I suppose given that they should be paying me enhanced care anyway due to the 12 points, I could do a paper appeal and ask for the points back.

But what if they take away the 12 points at MR or something, maybe it is better just to leave it. If I did have to appeal in future they would see the previous points given over the years / several reviews/appeals I guess.

It's making my MH worse just thinking about it all, which I am sure is the case for many people right now.

It's totally a cunning plan just designed to kick as many people off PIP and save money as much as possible, without the rationing for it being thought through.

Like the CAB link says it is not explained by they think having more points on one area is more important than points spread through several areas. It doesn't seem well thought through at all.

As well as cutting my points to 2, from a 6 yr award they have given me 18 months - meaning my award will be up just as the proposed cuts are coming in- great!

So I think I might appeal the award length as well.

People with disabilities are the most maligned group in the UK. Starting in childhood where they are seen as inconveniences, to adulthood where workplaces, landlords and even the transport and public amenities present easily preventable difficulties.

Nobody complained when Yvette Cooper introduced punitive changes to DLA at the end of the 2000s, nor did they care when Cameron and Duncan Smith wielded the largest axe in public history. Theirs was a government that oversaw cuts to local transport funding for children with Downs Syndrome, ffs!!!! What makes you think the current shower will care this time around?

Disabled people need to realise the only way to improve their lot is to take a leaf out of the trans movement's book and start an equality movement. There is power in large numbers, and more power in getting aggressive. The civil rights movement in America was not successful off the back of inaction, those rights were hard fought and hard won.

There are roughly 13 million people in the UK with a disability (so 1 in 6). This number eclipses that of many other minorities from black and minority ethnic communities to the LGBT community. Even just 4 or 5 million people, along with 1-2 million carers and/or allies forming a network of pressure groups is a number too large for any government to comfortably ignore for long. Aggressive action is the only way forward.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cql2910rk93o

Just thought I would share this as well