Tag Archives: personal independence payment

Frustrated peers still fighting for a fairer bill

Disabled peers believe they could still help to secure improvements to the welfare reform bill, despite their anger and frustration with the government over how it has handled the legislation.
The bill is due to return to the Lords on Tuesday (14 February), nearly two weeks after coalition MPs overturned seven key amendments that had been [...]

DLA reform: Nearly half a million set to lose support

Government cuts to vital disability benefits will be even harsher than the coalition previously admitted, with nearly half a million people set to lose their right to disability living allowance (DLA).
The government finally published figures this week which show estimates of how its plans to scrap working-age DLA and replace it with a new personal [...]

DLA reform: Government concessions ‘are victory for activists’

The disabled activists behind a ground-breaking report that accused the government of misleading parliament over its welfare reforms say major concessions agreed by a coalition minister are a victory for disabled people.
As peers prepared again to consider plans to scrap disability living allowance (DLA) for working-age people and replace it with a new personal independence [...]

DLA reform: DPOs could boycott government consultations

Leading figures in the disability movement say they could stop cooperating with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) if the government’s welfare reform bill becomes law.
Disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) are becoming increasingly angry at the government’s failure to listen to their views, despite its frequent references to how it is “co-producing” its reforms with [...]

Responsible Reform: Government ‘misled parliament’ over DLA

The government misled parliament and the public about the scale of opposition to its reform of disability living allowance (DLA), according to a ground-breaking new report researched, written and funded by disabled people.
Responsible Reform is based on the first independent analysis of the responses to a government consultation on its DLA reforms, which ended last [...]

Responsible Reform: Disabled campaigners reveal Boris’s criticism of Tory DLA cuts

London’s Conservative mayor has heavily criticised the government’s planned cuts and reforms to disability living allowance (DLA).
Boris Johnson’s opposition to many of the government’s proposals, which are contained in its welfare reform bill, emerged this week thanks to the work of disabled researchers.
They used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain the responses of more [...]

Government caught out on DLA statistics… again

Serious doubts have emerged about crucial statistics used by the minister for disabled people to justify the government’s sweeping disability living allowance (DLA) reforms.
Maria Miller was appearing this week before MPs on the work and pensions committee as part of its inquiry into coalition plans to cut spending on working-age DLA by 20 per [...]

Welfare reform bill ‘could breach human rights’

A committee of MPs and peers has suggested that parts of the government’s controversial welfare reform bill could breach disabled people’s human rights.
The joint committee on human rights (JCHR) – whose members include the disabled peer Baroness [Jane] Campbell – said some of the most controversial measures in the bill could contravene the European Convention [...]

Mobility component u-turn: Government accused of ‘incompetence’

The government has been accused of “incompetence” after it finally abandoned plans to remove mobility support from disabled people in residential homes.
The decision was announced today by Maria Miller, minister for disabled people, following months of criticism and campaigning by disabled activists.
The plan to save £160 million by removing the mobility component of the personal [...]

Mobility component u-turn: Fears over how DWP will fund decision

The government has refused to say how it will fund its decision to abandon plans to remove a key mobility benefit from disabled people in residential care.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said the move – announced today by the Conservative minister for disabled people, Maria Miller – would be funded through other measures [...]

Peers debate key DLA reforms: Government rejects test pilot plea

A disabled peer has failed to persuade the government to postpone the re-assessment of existing disability living allowance (DLA) claimants until it has piloted the new testing regime.
Baroness [Jane] Campbell called on the government to order a year-long trial of how the assessment process works for new claimants of its proposed personal independence payment (PIP) [...]

Peers debate key DLA reforms: Government to think again on qualifying period

The government has agreed to reconsider a key aspect of its disability living allowance (DLA) reforms, after disabled peers said the measure could cause serious financial hardship to people who have just become disabled.
The government wants to increase from three to six months the period of time a long-term health condition or impairment must last [...]

IDS ‘panders’ to Daily Mail again, hours after promising to change his ways

A cabinet minister has been heavily criticised after again appearing to encourage national newspapers to run stories attacking disabled benefit claimants.
Last week, work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith was criticised by the work and pensions committee for “pandering to the Daily Mail” and sending out misleading press releases about incapacity benefits.
Duncan Smith protested that [...]

New assessment ‘repeats mistakes of fitness for work test’

Trials of the assessment for the benefit that will replace disability living allowance (DLA) show the test is worryingly similar to the government’s discredited “fitness for work” assessment, say campaigners.
The government has been trialling questions for the test it plans to introduce for its new personal independence payment (PIP).
But disabled activist Linda Burnip, who has [...]

Conservative conference: Ministers return to same old story of benefits abuse

Ministers have used their party’s annual conference to reinforce the message that many disabled people claiming out-of-work benefits are “abusing” the system.
Iain Duncan Smith told the Conservative conference in Manchester that his party had promised to “start dealing with” the numbers of people on long-term incapacity benefit (IB), which he said was “too often abused [...]

Welfare reform bill: Peers hear of ‘terror’ and ‘anxiety’ over DLA plans

Many “terrified” disabled people expect to lose their independence because of measures within the government’s welfare reform bill, disabled peers have told a Lords debate.
Five disabled peers described the fear, anxiety and even terror expressed by disabled people about aspects of the bill, particularly proposals to replace disability living allowance (DLA) with a new personal [...]

Government cuts will force disabled people further into poverty

Proposed Government cuts mean disabled people will not have enough money for everyday essentials like food and transport, according to new evidence revealed today by charity Papworth Trust.
Disability Living Allowance (DLA) was introduced by the Conservatives in 1992 to help disabled people cope with extra costs they face daily, such as paying for someone to [...]

Figures undermine government’s case for DLA cuts

New official figures have undermined one of the government’s key justifications for reforming and slashing spending on a vital disability benefit.
The disability living allowance (DLA) statistics were only passed by the government to selected newspapers this week and led to stories highlighting what was described as a huge rise in the number of claimants over [...]

MPs launch new inquiry into DLA reforms

A new inquiry into plans to reform disability living allowance (DLA) is set to increase pressure on the government to describe the true impact on disabled people of its controversial proposals.
The inquiry will be carried out by the Commons work and pensions committee, which is chaired by the disabled Labour MP Dame Anne Begg.
It will [...]

Government faces legal action over DLA spending cuts

A campaigning disability charity has taken the first step in a legal action against the government over its planned cuts to disability benefits.
Disability Alliance (DA) has issued a “letter of claim” to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), asking it to prove that it has properly analysed the impact of proposed cuts of more [...]