Leading disabled people’s organisations (DPO) have written to work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall to express “serious concerns” about the human rights implications of her “incredibly dangerous” plans to cut spending on disability benefits.
They say in the letter that her consultation on the Pathways to Work green paper, launched officially this week after the long-awaited publication of accessible versions of the document, is a “sham”.
And they have called on her to withdraw the consultation, postpone imminent legislation – due within weeks – until all the proposed measures can be subjected to proper and accessible consultation, and provide accessible versions of all documents relating to the proposals.
The letter comes as the social security and disability minister, Sir Stephen Timms, told a Labour MP yesterday (Wednesday) that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is carrying out research into the disability-related needs of disabled people who receive personal independence payment (PIP).
But the research is not expected to “produce findings” until the autumn, months after a new bill that will allow the government to cut PIP spending by £4.5 billion a year is set to be introduced to parliament.
Labour’s Neil Duncan-Jordan, who has won praise for asking multiple questions of work and pensions ministers about the impact of their reforms, had asked what assessment Kendall had made in the green paper of the adequacy of sickness and disability benefits.
Sir Stephen told him: “DWP pays close attention to estimates of the extra costs faced by disabled people; including academic research, analysis by Scope, and DWP’s own commissioned research on the Uses of Health and Disability Benefits from 2019.
“In order to improve the evidence in this area, DWP is now undertaking a new survey of Personal Independence Payment customers to understand more about their disability related needs.
“It is expected to produce findings in Autumn 2025.”
This week’s letter, drafted by DPO Forum England, has been signed by 21 DPOs – including Disability Rights UK, Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People, Manchester Disabled People Against Cuts and Spectrum – and Amnesty International.
They argue that the green paper contains 22 policy proposals – which will force more than 400,000 people into poverty – but that DWP is only consulting on 11 of them.
The most harmful proposals are being introduced instead in the new government bill, without any consultation.
This bill will include measures to scrap the work capability assessment (WCA); create a single assessment for personal independence payment (PIP) and the universal credit health element; freeze the value of the health element of universal credit until 2029-30, with new claimants seeing their weekly premium almost halved to £50 in 2026-27; introduce “harsh” changes to the PIP daily living assessment criteria from November 2026; and restart WCA reassessments until the WCA is eventually scrapped.
These changes, the letter says, will cut the number of people receiving the PIP daily living component by 1.5 million, with an average loss of almost £4,500 a year; while 2.25 million recipients of the universal credit health element will lose £500 per year; and 730,000 future recipients of the health element will lose an average of £3,000 per year.
The DPOs say in the letter that the way the measures have been introduced “completely undermines Disabled people’s rights to participate in decisions affecting our lives, with the government likely to swiftly bring a bill to the house, with the whipping process for MPs removing Disabled people’s right to engage their local representatives”.
They said there were “striking similarities” to Ellen Clifford’s high court victory in January, which saw the court find that a consultation on a set of cuts proposed by the last government was unlawful.
The letter also criticises the delayed publication of accessible versions of the green paper, which were only made available this week, nearly three weeks after the green paper was published.
It says that disabled people with accessible information needs, who are “highly likely to be disproportionately impacted” by the proposals, have so far been “excluded from public debate and left with fears about their future”.
The DPOs also point out that there are still no accessible versions of the green paper’s equality analysis and impact assessment.
And they say the government has published its green paper without a “comprehensive” assessment of its equality and human rights impacts.
Meanwhile, in response to a written question from Labour MP Richard Burgon, the minister for social security and disability has suggested that disabled people who lose their PIP daily living eligibility could manage their needs “with small interventions or the addition of aids or appliances”.
The suggestion by Sir Stephen Timms caused anger on social media, with one disabled campaigner calling it “disgraceful”.
Burgon had asked ministers why it was their policy that people should no longer be eligible for the PIP daily living component if they still needed support with activities such as getting out of a bath, washing their hair, and cutting up their food.
Sir Stephen replied: “A high number of people get PIP by having multiple but low-level functional needs across several activities.
“These could individually be managed with small interventions or the addition of aids or appliances.
“This change will focus PIP more on those with the greatest needs, ensuring those who are unable to complete activities at all, or who require more help from others to complete them, still get support.
“Through the Green Paper we are consulting on how best to support those who may lose any entitlement because of this change.”
Picture: Disabled campaigners in Whitehall last month protesting over the Pathways to Work cuts
A note from the editor:
Please consider making a voluntary financial contribution to support the work of DNS and allow it to continue producing independent, carefully-researched news stories that focus on the lives and rights of disabled people and their user-led organisations.
Please do not contribute if you cannot afford to do so, and please note that DNS is not a charity. It is run and owned by disabled journalist John Pring and has been from its launch in April 2009.
Thank you for anything you can do to support the work of DNS…
DWP silent after Tory member of PIP review publishes report demanding child disability benefits are slashed
Ministers’ decision to slash accessible housing targets was ‘unprincipled’, but Timms says they were right
Timms refuses four times to rule out cuts to PIP, but makes firm promise on cash payments