A MILLION Brits are set to see their disability benefits scrapped by Labour – as Reeves promises to “get a grip” on a “broken” system.
It comes as Sir Keir Starmer and his government plan to execute a £5billion cost-cutting reform on sickness benefits.
A million Brits are set to see their disability benefits scrapped by Labour[/caption]
Chancellor Rachel Reeves promised to ‘get a grip’ on a ‘broken’ system[/caption]
Leading charities, including Disability Rights UK, Citizens Advice, Scope and Sense, have opposed the cuts[/caption]
The new rules will see those with mental health conditions affected, while only those with the most severe disabilities will continue to receive their payments.
Despite facing push back from Angela Rayner, Ed Miliband and Lucy Powell, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said this week something must be done about the “broken” benefits system.
This will see the “work capability assessment” for incapability benefits axed.
The work and pensions secretary Liz 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.
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.
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.”
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.”
This comes as Chancellor Reeves bagged free VIP tickets to see pop star Sabrina Carpenter at the O2 Arena, reports claimed.
Ms Reeves enjoyed luxury hospitality in a corporate box last weekend, according to The i.
The box is owned by AEG – a former client of lobbying firm FTI Consulting, whose past clients include oil, tobacco, and banking giants.
While there’s no suggestion she broke any rules, it comes after a row last year when ministers racked up £23,000 in freebies for Taylor Swift concerts.
While the Chancellor was at the gig, Work and Pensions Committee chair Debbie Abrahams was reportedly conducting a ring-round of Labour MPs to drum up opposition to the cost-cutting plans.
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.”
A Treasury spokesman said: “All declarations will be made in the usual way.”
The cost-cutting reforms have been met with fierce backlash[/caption]
Savings will be poured into Universal Credit funds and a £1billion effort towards employment support including job coaching[/caption]
