Journalists and editors like their stories to be simple and short, to have a beginning, a middle and an end. So with the personal independence payment and universal credit bill, the story goes that the government tabled it, flailed around trying to defend it, then took out the PIP part under the threat of it being defeated in the House of Commons. That’s the end of the media story.
But this is far from the end for disabled and ill people who still face, through continuing plans for universal credit cuts, a significant reduction in already inadequate support.
That was highlighted yesterday when Sir Keir Starmer faced the Liaison Committee of the chairs of select committees. Labour’s Debbie Abrahams told the prime minister she was “ashamed” about the benefit cuts in the bill the Lords is debating today. “Reform does not mean cuts to household incomes; already struggling households. We must do better, prime minister. You mentioned about reducing poverty — this has the potential of actually increasing it.”
Cause for great regret
Today, in the House of Lords, I will be seeking to further highlight that fact as the now universal credit bill comes before us. It has been declared a “money bill”, which the Lords have no power to stop or amend, so I’ve taken the strongest action that I can by tabling – and intending to put to a vote – a “regret” motion. What impact will that have? None in practical terms, I’m sorry to say, but at least it could be an expression from the House that this is no way for any government – but particularly a Labour government – to run the country. Something that 47 Labour MPs – and many others – indicated at the third reading vote in the Commons.
The regret motion notes the effects of the bill on “age discrimination, the impact on people with high levels of need and mental health conditions, and the overall impact on rates and severity of poverty among people with disabilities, and notes the human rights concerns expressed by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities”.
That reflects the perspective in the Disability Rights UK briefing on the universal credit bill: “Debt and poverty are already a fact of life for existing disabled claimants of Universal Credit, with many unable to afford essentials such as food, energy and housing or the additional costs of disability. The cuts will exacerbate this grave situation even further, pushing people into deep poverty.”
Widespread condemnation of universal credit bill
I have received a flood of briefings from organisations representing disabled people pointing this out, including Scope, Sense, the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, Parkinsons UK, the Mental Health Trust, and Amnesty International.
The last very clearly identifies this as a human rights issue, as has the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities – as the regret motion points out. The UN Committee has previously expressed alarm over the government’s treatment of disabled people, identifying “grave and systemic violations” of their human rights. The latest letter notes the universal credit plans are going further backwards.
This in a country where already research from The Trussell Trust and YouGov found that one in five people receiving universal credit and disability benefits have been forced to use a food bank in the last month.
A further joint briefing involving many of those organisations and, additionally, The Disability Benefits Consortium, The Trussell Trust, Citizens Advice, The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Child Poverty Action Group, The New Economics Foundation, Z2K, Turns2Us, The MS Society and Carers UK, highlights how the bill as it is now stands means that existing recipients of the health element of universal credit will not see their payments frozen, but will also not feel most of the benefit from the £250 per year increase in the standard allowance that others receive. About 50,000 more people – disabled people and households with disabled people – are predicted to be in poverty by 2030 as a result.
Age discrimination in the health element cut-off date
But that is only the start. The key Clause 2 of the bill cuts the Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) element of universal credit, generally known as the “health element” for more than 750,000 disabled people, by £3,000 a year: an effect that will only continue to grow unless we get a future government concerned about the rights of disabled people – and basic humanity. That means, effectively, age discrimination, since younger people are far more likely to be affected.
And as Sense points out, for the people with complex needs that it represents, if they received £47 less in support each week, a quarter would be pushed into debt (often further debt) and one in five say that would force them to go without essential support to live their lives.
The government has claimed that some people with a terminal illness or lifelong condition will be protected, but the impact assessment confirms that fewer than 10% of new claims could be saved by this.
The Cystic Fibrosis Trust says that few of the adults it represents are likely to meet the severe conditions criteria, “despite the fact that a typical person with cystic fibrosis on the health element of universal credit is someone who cannot walk 200 metres within a reasonable timescale, the majority of the time is at risk of voiding their bowels and/or bladder, and would spend a significant portion of their day performing their daily treatments”. Those are the people this bill explicitly targets for benefit cuts.
Parkinson’s UK notes that it has had legal opinions from two different experts concluding that the severe conditions criterion is likely to effectively prevent people with Parkinson’s from getting the higher rate health element.
Insecure and unsupported
I have received many hundreds of heart-wrenching emails from individuals about today’s debate – most explaining their own difficulties and fears about the changes, and fears of the impact on others. I’m sorry that the sheer volume means I will not be able to respond to each individually, but they are collectively a huge testament to the fact that disabled people in our society are not feeling, as Sir Keir told the liaison committee yesterday he wanted them to feel, “secure and supported”. Absolutely the opposite.
