The United Nations calls on the UK Government to stop the cuts to disability benefits
JULY 8, 2025
The United Nations is calling for the UK Government to stop the Universal Credit (PIP) Bill because it will “deepen the signs of regression” in disabled people’s human rights.
Despite recent Government concessions, aimed at subduing the biggest backbench rebellion Keir Starmer’s Cabinet has so far faced, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has serious concerns it highlights in its most recent statement on the Bill.
These include:
· the Bill’s lack of full impact assessments.
· the impact on women, younger people, and global majority people.
· the risk of increasing the poverty rate.
· the inadequacy of the public consultation around the Bill.
· the lack of involvement of deaf and disabled people’s organisations.
· the lack of a limited scrutiny because of its designation as a money bill.
· public statements by politicians and authorities portraying disabled people as fraudulent or burdens on society including debates around the Terminally Ill Adults Bill.
· the extension of financial surveillance and policing powers in the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill.
Activists are particularly concerned about the designation of the Bill as a Money Bill. If the Bill is, as expected, certified as a Money Bill tomorrow, when it returns to the House of Commons, this would likely be the last opportunity for amendments to be made to the Bill before it becomes law. This would further limit the opportunity for it to be informed by the expertise, voices and experience of the disabled people it will impact.
The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will examine the issue during its thirty-third session, to be held in Geneva, from 11th to 26th August 2025.
Ahead of that, tomorrow, Wednesday 9th July, disabled people will be going to Westminster to tell their MPs to vote Against the Universal Credit Bill.
Listen to Disabled People’s Voices and Stop the Cuts – Kathy Bole, Disability Labour
Kathy Bole, Disability Labour, writes on the impacts of the cuts to disability support that remain in the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill, following the Government’s concessions won by disabled people’s organisations.
The Universal Credit (UC) and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) bill has been a subject of intense debate and scrutiny in recent days. While some concessions have been made last minute to address some of the criticisms, several significant issues remain unresolved and unwritten, making it difficult to see all the snags that may exist.
Distrust in the government
Whilst getting concessions should not be sneered at, it is difficult to envision what those concessions look like. The government has continued its clear assault on vulnerable groups throughout its first year, whether it has been WASPI women, pensioners, or disabled people. In fact, many of the announcements on welfare issues have been just as bad, if not worse than, those for earlier Conservative governments.
Two Tier System
The disabled community is vehemently opposed to the creation of the two-tier system which will be created by grandfathering current claimants and introducing new rules for new claimants. This two-tier system is against the Trade Union principles which many of the Labour Party members follow.
Assessment Process
The assessment process for both UC and PIP has been widely criticised for its lack of transparency and consistency. Claimants often report that the assessments do not accurately reflect their needs, conditions or even what has been said during the assessment interview. There have also been rumours of quotas to reject a certain number of claimants.
Debbie Abrahams, chair of the Commons Work and Pensions Committee, has voiced her concerns, stating, “The assessment process is fundamentally flawed and does not accurately capture the needs of claimants. We need a system that is fair, transparent, and consistent”
Financial Inadequacy
Another significant issue is the financial inadequacy of the benefits provided. While the recent concessions have included some increases in payment rates, many claimants will still have difficulty paying their bills. SCOPE has stated “Our latest findings show that disabled households need an extra £1,095 each month. This is just to have the same standard of living as non-disabled households.”
As inflation is expected to rise over the next five years so these extra costs of disability could rise to as much as £1,224 per month by 2029–2030.
Reassessment Rules
The PIP system involves reassessment rules. Under the new guidelines, individuals who are already receiving PIP will be reassessed and remain on the old terms. However, new claimants will have to meet harsher assessment rules. This distinction has raised concerns about fairness and consistency in the treatment of claimants. Many argue that the new rules could disproportionately affect new claimants, making it more difficult for them to qualify for the support they need.
Role of Sir Stephen Timms
Sir Stephen Timms has played a significant role in the development of the UC and PIP bill. As the author of the bill, Sir Stephen has been instrumental in shaping its provisions and guiding its passage through Parliament. Additionally, Sir Stephen is set to lead the review of the bill, which aims to address some of the ongoing issues and make further improvements. This dual role has raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest, but it also offers an opportunity for a comprehensive and informed review process.
Impact on Mental Health
The stress and uncertainty associated with the UC and PIP systems can have a significant impact on claimants’ mental health. The fear of sanctions, the complexity of the application process, and the financial inadequacy of the benefits can all contribute to increased anxiety and depression.
The Access to Work scheme is totally inadequate to support the number of successful disabled employees the government wants to get into work. No small business will hire those needing help through access to work as the cost of reasonable adjustments would make disabled candidates more expensive than their non-disabled counterparts
Potential Impacts on New Claimants
New claimants will face several challenges under the new UC and PIP bill:
- Stricter Assessment Criteria: New claimants will have to meet more stringent criteria to qualify for benefits, potentially making it more difficult for them to receive support.
- Higher Levels of Stress and Anxiety: The more stringent assessment process and the uncertainty of qualifying for benefits can contribute to higher levels of stress and anxiety among new claimants.
- Potential for Increased Appeals: There may be an increase in the number of appeals against decisions, leading to longer waiting times for new claimants to receive a final decision on their benefits.
- Disparity Between New and Existing Claimants: The distinction between new and existing claimants could create a sense of unfairness and disparity, with new claimants feeling that they are being treated unjustly compared to those already receiving benefits.
- Kathy Bole is the Chair of Disability Labour. You can follow her on Twitter here; and follow Disability Labour on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter/X.
Disability Cuts Bill Must be Scrapped Outright – Disabled Members’ NEC Rep Ellen Morrison
By Ellen Morrison-Smith, Disabled members’ representative on Labour’s NEC
After last week’s backbench rebellion, the Benefit Cuts Bill has become an albatross around the government’s neck. It should never have been introduced, and the fact that it was – without meaningful engagement with disabled people and our organisations – is a profound failure of both our politics and Labour values.
Plans to cut Personal Independence Payment (PIP) would have been devastating. Those cuts would have torn away lifelines from disabled people, stripping vital support that helps us not just to survive, but to live with dignity. The climbdown – forced by disabled people’s campaigning, grassroots activism from groups like Disabled People Against Cuts, and a significant backbench rebellion – is welcome. It’s right that the government has now removed PIP cuts from the bill and committed to a review. But this is not the victory some would like to claim.
The bill that remains is still a danger to disabled people. Cuts to the health element of Universal Credit will hit some of the poorest. It will punish future claimants who cannot work, stripping away vital support when they need it most. It is fundamentally unjust. The two tier system that many argued against for PIP ahead of the second reading last week, will still be in place. Existing claimants will be hundreds of pounds better off per month than future claimants. None of us want to be part of a system that creates and embeds needless inequality.
This could have been avoided. Time and again, disabled people and our organisations have called for co-production. I have made this case relentlessly, in meetings with Labour ministers, in policy submissions, and within the Party’s own structures. For years, we have said that changes to social security must not be done to us, but with us.
Yet this bill was drafted without us. An active decision was taken to ignore us. And now we are told that the PIP changes will be revisited as part of the so-called Timms review, which will allegedly be co-produced. But how can we trust a government that excluded us when it mattered most? How can we have confidence in this process when the starting point was so deeply flawed?
Co-production is not a tick-box exercise to be used after policy is written. It means disabled people being involved from the outset, shaping decisions that impact our lives. This bill has demonstrated the opposite.
Despite the concessions, Labour MPs should still vote against this bill. The idea that we should ‘bank the wins’ and support the remaining legislation is wrong. A party that created the welfare state should not be complicit in dismantling it. We should not be voting for cuts to disability benefits, whether now or in the future. This bill is not aligned with Labour’s values.
Disabled people have fought hard to defend our rights. We have marched, we have lobbied, we have made ourselves heard. And we will continue to do so. But we should not have to fight our own party to protect the most basic forms of support.
Labour must go back to the drawing board. This bill needs a complete rethink, with Disabled people leading the process from the very beginning. Anything less is not good enough.
And anything less is not Labour.
A note to MPs:
There are some amendments that should be supported if the bill is not withdrawn:
- Proposals to improve the ‘severe conditions criteria’ which would make this more reasonable in practice as current wording demands that a disabled person experiences descriptors ‘constantly’
- Removal of the unjust change to the Universal Credit health element that would see future claimants considerably worse off that current claimants
- Further detail of the Timms review, including commitments on time and how it will be legislated
- Anything that supports further reports and analysis of proposed changes before cuts are implemented, and any delays to the date cuts begin
- Ellen Morrison-Smith is the elected representative for Disabled Members on the Labour Party’s National Executive Committee – you can follow her on Twitter/X.
No comments:
Post a Comment