Kendall strongly hints there will be no PIP vouchers, but twice fails to make that promise

Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall has strongly hinted that she will not implement the last government’s proposal to replace disability benefits with vouchers, but she twice failed to make a promise to that effect to MPs.

A public consultation that began in April under the Conservative government included a number of proposals aimed at cutting spending on personal independence payment (PIP), including one possible idea to replace cash PIP payments with vouchers.

The new Labour government has repeatedly refused to say if it supports the ideas in the Conservative consultation or provide any details of its own proposed PIP reforms, which are set to be published in the spring.

But in response to a question from Labour’s Damien Egan, Liz Kendall told the Commons work and pensions committee yesterday (Wednesday): “I was very struck, particularly by the comments people made around shifting support to vouchers and where many organisations said their real concern was that it took away people’s autonomy, particularly when services are so stretched and tight.

“So, I’ve read those very, very carefully.”

She declined to rule out the vouchers idea, but she said Labour’s plans would be based on “getting the decisions right first time, early intervention, genuine support to help people into work, helping people live full, fulfilling and independent lives.

“But this is extremely difficult, and I know people really want more detail, but we won’t do that until we’re absolutely ready and have had the proper discussions with people.”

She was later asked to rule out the vouchers idea by the Liberal Democrat work and pensions spokesperson, Steve Darling, who told her that a disabled constituent was “worried sick about vouchers being offered up and her not being able to have a richer life”.

Kendall again declined to rule out the idea of vouchers but told him she was “really aware of people’s concerns about that”.

She said that “this issue of empowerment and giving people power and control over their lives is really important because I think it leads to better results, so I understand people’s real concerns about that”.

Asked by Labour’s Amanda Hack about her plans for reforming the work capability assessment (WCA), Kendall repeated the government’s line that it would either be “reformed or replaced alongside a proper plan to support disabled people”.

She highlighted flaws in the WCA system, including delays, too many decisions being overturned, and – in a criticism used by DWP ministers for decades – that there was an unhelpful “binary classification [in the system] between those who are able to work and those who are unable to work”.

She claimed that “the truth is, apart from those with very, very severe disabilities, many people’s health conditions fluctuate, and it depends on the work, the job that they have, the flexibility that might be available, and a number of other issues”.

She said the last government “wrote people off, then blamed them, [so] I am not surprised that people are concerned and worried”.

Kendall again admitted that the government would make the savings promised by the last government, which appears to refer to Conservative plans to cut spending by £2.8 billion in the four years to 2028-29 by tightening the WCA, which would have seen 424,000 disabled people lose their entitlement to extra support of up to £4,900 a year by 2028-29.

She said the government would make these savings by “bringing forward our own proposals” after “genuinely” consulting with “disabled people in the organisations that represent them”.

She added: “I believe disabled people should have the same rights, choices to work, to independent living, as everybody else.

“That is the core that runs through us. So that’s the absolute principle. I cannot give you a more detailed response now, but that is our approach.”

Asked by Egan about the “big spike” in the number of people with mental health conditions claiming out-of-work disability benefits, particularly younger people, Kendall said the UK was “an older, sicker nation” than the other major economies in the G7 group.

She said: “If you look around the country, the places that have the worst life expectancy and lowest healthy life expectancy and the highest economic inactivity are the same places, parts of the country that were written off by the last but one Tory government, and the last one promised to level them up and actually didn’t.”

With young people, she said she believed the increase in mental ill-health was likely to be connected to “the impact of Covid, possibly also built on top of the cost-of-living crisis, anxious, worried parents, anxious, worried children, plus social media, plus less stigma about reporting mental health.

“I wish in life there was one reason that you could give an easy headline for, but, you know, life’s not like that.

“There are complicated things going on with mental health. That’s why we’ve really got to intervene early.”

She added: “One of the reasons we want mental health support in every school, and mental health support in open access hubs in every community, is we know these problems start young, so we’ve got to intervene much earlier.”

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