PLANS to freeze disability payments are “set to be stopped” after being faced with fierce backlash.
Sir Keir Starmer and his government could back down on some of their goals to execute a £5billion cost-cutting reform on sickness benefits.
British Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Liz Kendall could back down on plans to scrap a freeze on disability payments[/caption]
Rachel Reeves said the government need to ‘get a grip’ on a ‘broken’ system[/caption]
Kendall had been planning to axe a rise in pip payments in line with inflation[/caption]
It comes after the proposals were met with harsh criticism, including push back from Labour’s Angela Rayner, Ed Miliband and Lucy Powell.
Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, is now understood to be scrapping the controversial plans to freeze some disability benefits.
It is believed she has abandoned her bid to axe rising personal independence payments in line with inflation next year.
PIP and Universal Credit are normally increased to match rising living costs.
Kendall told The Sunday Times the government is still set on protecting payments received by Brits who are unable to work.
She highlighted how she also plans to introduce a “right-to-try guarantee” which will allow people with disabilities or long-term sickness to attempt going to work without losing their benefits after a reassessment.
This comes as Sir Kier Starmer battles strong opposition to the cost-cutting measures on disability benefits due to be revealed on Tuesday.
The new rules would see those with mental health conditions affected, while only those with the most severe disabilities will continue to receive their payments.
And, the “work capability assessment” for incapability benefits is set to be axed.
Kendall is expected to slash the benefit, which is currently more than £800 a month, for those who are classed as unfit to work.
The crackdown could see 2.4 million claimants required to prepare for work, with hundreds of thousands facing benefit cuts if they refuse.
Savings will be poured into Universal Credit funds and a £1billion effort towards employment support including job coaching.
The latest figures show 1.8 million Universal Credit claimants now receive no job-search support – is nearly four times the amount before the pandemic.
And under-25s deemed too sick to work have more than tripled to 160,000.
Meanwhile, the health and disability-related benefits bill is now £65bn a year, a figure projected to increase to £100bn over the next four years.
New reforms to personal independent payments, PIPs, are also set to come into force.
An estimated 3.2million Brits claim the support, which is a million more since 2019.
In the next five years the statistic is expected to hit five million.
At present, claimants are allocated points depending on how they cope with everyday tasks such as cooking, cleaning and washing.
Depending on their difficulty, those eligible can receive up to £9,600 a year.
‘Right to try’
DISABILITY benefit claimants will be able to try out a job without losing handouts under plans to get Britain working.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall wants to encourage people trapped on benefits to “take a chance” on work.
She will this week announce plans to legislate for a “right to try” guarantee.
It means health and disability claimants trying out work will not automatically be considered as having a change of circumstance — which triggers a benefit reassessment.
Sources said many are scared to get a job in case it goes wrong and they lose their access to benefits.
It comes after a Cabinet revolt over looming £5billion welfare cuts.
A Government source said: “The broken welfare system we inherited is trapping thousands of people in a life on benefits with no means of support, or any hope for a future of life in work. It doesn’t account for the reality of people’s health conditions, many of whom fear that they will be punished for taking a chance on work.”
A Government survey found 200,000 people claiming health and disability benefits are ready for work now if the right job or support were available.
And figures unearthed by The Sun on Sunday reveal the sheer scale of the unemployment crisis.
Of nine million economically inactive last year, 83 per cent did not want a job, according to Government stats.
Meanwhile, 78 per cent of the 2.8million on long-term sickness did not want one.
Karl Williams, of think tank Centre for Policy Studies, said 2.2million of working age are “economically inactive due to long-term sickness and have actively stated they don’t want to work”.
He added: “This is incredibly damaging, both for them and for the nation.”
The DWP said: “Without reform more people will be locked out of jobs, despite many wanting to work. That is not just bad for the economy, it’s bad for people too.”
The Tories said they planned to save £12billion from the welfare bill.
Under the imminent cost-cutting measures, applicants will now have to score at least four points on one activity.
But several leading charities, including Disability Rights UK, Citizens Advice, Scope and Sense, have written to the Chancellor urging for a “safeguard” to disability benefits from cuts.
It will see those unable to cook qualify, but not those who can use a microwave.
Likewise, assistance required to wash your lower body would not deem you eligible but your upper body would.
And, while requiring help to use the toilet meets the threshold, needing reminded to go would fall below it.
But Kendall has insisted: “For those who absolutely cannot work, this is not about that.
“Almost 20 per cent of people on PIP are working. We know that many more disabled people would like to work if they could get the adjustments at work — the flexibility, the support that they need.
“But for those who cannot work … those people will be protected.”
She argued one of the primary reasons for the huge reform was people who are signed off long-term sick could get back to work with the right help and resources.
Research by the Good Growth Foundation revealed 82 per cent of Brits on sickness or disability benefits want to go back to work but don’t feel they can.
Meanwhile, 38 per cent reported they would like to be employed but can’t find a job to suit their requirements.
And, six in ten people polled said they feel the government gives too much money to people who don’t want to work.
Kendall argued it has a negative impact on peoples’ “dignity and self-respect, hope and aspiration and their health” to survive on benefits if they could work.
“Whatever some of the [critical] briefings might have said, this, for us, is about a belief in the potential of people to have better lives and that social security alone for many people will never be the key to a better life. It should be a springboard and not trapping people,” she added.
She highlighted the latest statistics showing the number of people on PIP has soared by over two million over the past 10 years.
Kendall attributed the hike being “driven by younger people” and last month claimed some benefit recipients were “taking the mickey”.
But several leading charities have been urging the government to ensure there are safe-guarding measures with the reform to protect the most vulnerable.
James Taylor of the charity Scope told The Times: “Tightening the assessment would be a disastrous move and result in hundreds of thousands more disabled people being pushed into poverty.
“We are yet to see evidence that mental health conditions come with lower extra costs, and therefore this proposal could be deeply damaging.”
Meanwhile, Labour MP Rachael Maskell, a leading figure in the revolt against benefit cuts, told The i: “I thought that this issue had been settled, and ministers would not be accepting free hospitality for personal benefit.
“So to hear of a repeat, should it have occurred, is deeply troubling, not least at a time when many disabled people are worried sick about having their lifeline of support reduced under the ‘Get Britain Working’ reforms.”
And Brian Leishman, the Labour MP for Alloa & Grangemouth, told Times Radio the proposed cuts would be “absolutely devastating” and that reducing disability benefits would show a “basic lack of humanity”.
The Department for Work and Pensions said: “We have a duty to get the welfare bill on a more sustainable path and we will achieve that through meaningful, principled reforms rather than arbitrary cuts to spending.”
Kendall told The Sunday Times the government is still set on protecting payments received by Brits who are unable to work[/caption]
The new reforms plan on spending £1billion on helping people find jobs[/caption]
