UK: Disability benefits (UC, ESA and PIP) - news and updates 2024 and 2025

Simbindi said:
Whilst the rent allowance does cover the cost of social housing depending on your property size, the bedroom tax was brought in 2013, which means you may have to pay either 14% or 25% of your basic UC allowance towards your rent. That puts many long term sick and disabled claimants at risk of homelessness. II was in that position when they first brought this in, until I was awarded my PIP. In my area there isn't even any one bedroom social housing properties available, they never built them. So all the old people/disabled bungalows are 2 bedroom properties, now given to young families.
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Yep, I had to pay that for six years.

I was offered a one-bedroom bungalow first, but I have two big powered wheelchairs and there was nowhere to put them, so I had to go for a two-bedroom property on the same development. I paid £90 a month in rent for a room barely bigger than a double bed, which had to come out of my PIP daily living payment.

£90 a month for a new bungalow doesn't sound much when people are paying £1500+ to rent freezing, mould-ridden flats in London, but it's a big chunk of your income when you're on means tested benefits.

Thankfully it ends at state pension age. Not having to find that money every month has made a lot of difference.
 
Kitty said:
Yep, I had to pay that for six years.

I was offered a one-bedroom bungalow first, but I have two big powered wheelchairs and there was nowhere to put them, so I had to go for a two-bedroom property on the same development. I paid £90 a month in rent for a room barely bigger than a double bed, which had to come out of my PIP daily living payment.

£90 a month for a new bungalow doesn't sound much when people are paying £1500+ to rent freezing, mould-ridden flats in London, but it's a big chunk of your income when you're on means tested benefits.

Thankfully it ends at state pension age. Not having to find that money every month has made a lot of difference.
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Ah, yes. I underestimated the amount that has to be paid. It's 14% (I bedroom underoccupancy) or 25% (2 bedroom underoccupancy) of the total social rent, not the basic UC allowance. Social rent has increased a lot since the bedroom tax was brought in. Many 2 bed social housing in my area is still around £500-600 per month,. I've seen some new build 3-bed social housing for up to £800 a month, which means tenants could be paying £150 a month or more out of their basic UC amount. Obviously this is much more in the London area (although there are likely to be more one bed flats available there).

Council housing is cheaper than the housing association rent, but 2/3rds of the original council housing stock across the country was transferred to private housing associations over the last few decades. I believe that was a Labour initiative too, under Tony Blair. I read recently that Angela Rayner is working out how to increase the lower social rents so they match the higher social rents. Which will throw many more low income people further into poverty (if they are subject to the bedroom tax), increase the housing benefit bill (so increase antagonism towards those receiving benefits) and mean many working social housing tenants will be paying much more in rent.

Also, with UC you have to be in receipt of PIP to get the allowance for an additional bedroom for an overnight carer, whereas with ESA you could provide other evidence (such as a GP note or a social care plan) that you required this help. So PIP will now be the only gateway for this allowance for working age people. I also read now and again the government floating the idea of applying the bedroom tax for pension aged social tenants, but I'm not sure that would ever get through.
 
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Trish said:
The thing that has driven me mad with almost all the coverage including by government ministers is they keep talking about PIP as if it were income to live on for people not working, with part of the solution to get more people off it and into work.

That is wrong. It's an allowance to help cover the extra costs of daily living for people who need help to do ordinary activities and includes people who need things that cost money in order to be able to work. It used to be called Disability Living Allowance, which I think was clearer.

It's only the daily living component they are talking about cutting and making much harder to get. Yet even at maximum rate it only covers the cost of a few half hour carer visits a week.
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Yes, PIP hasn't increased in line with the national minimum wage or National Insurance increases, or the cost of fuel and transport., just the RRP based on the month of September each year. This means the amount of hours of care a claimant can pay for from it has reduced every year. I think the enhanced rate of care would pay for a maximum of 4 hours of agency care where I live, probably less as I think they charge more for rural locations. No one will provide private care on a self-employed basis here as it's too rural, the nearest bus stop is a few miles away.
 
The excellent Clare again (@ClrBlwrs)

Clare:
'The government used a 2006 biopsychosocial paper by Gordon Waddell to justify benefit cuts'


Clare:
'At the bottom of the page is a list of sources used as evidence.The first is:Is work good for your health and well-being? An independent review – http://GOV.UK (http://gov.uk), published January 2006By Gordon Waddell'


www.gov.uk

Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper

www.gov.uk www.gov.uk


'Is work good for your health and well-being? An independent review'​

www.gov.uk

Is work good for your health and well-being? An independent review

An independent review of the evidence on the relationship between work, health and well-being.
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk





 
Simbindi said:
Also, with UC you have to be in receipt of PIP to get the allowance for an additional bedroom for an overnight carer, whereas with ESA you could provide other evidence (such as a GP note or a social care plan) that you required this help.
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It's iniquitous that no allowance was made for people who don't need overnight care but are completely dependent on large pieces of equipment.

Anyone watching me manoeuvring an outdoor powerchair inside a social housing-sized home would immediately see that not only is it a big item that takes up a lot of space, three or four times that amount of space has to be left clear before I can turn it and move it around. The idea I could keep it in the sitting room or my bedroom is ridiculous; I need furniture in those rooms. The only other space big enough and clear enough to store it is the wetroom, but it would mean I couldn't use it as a wetroom.
 
Another update from Benefits & Work today on what has changed since last night's vote. I've just picked out a short paragraph on implications for current UC claimants:

Universal credit

New universal credit (UC) health element claimants from April 2026 will still see their UC health element almost halved and frozen.

Existing claimants were already protected in the bill from the cut to the UC health element and in a further concession they are to be protected from the freeze.
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AfME have published a position statement on the bills passing. It explains why several APPG members voted for (apparently in order to remain engaged in the Timms review)
www.actionforme.org.uk

Our response: Concessions & the passing of the welfare bill - Action for ME

Last night, the government’s welfare bill was passed by 335 votes to 260. As an organisation, we continued to oppose the bill...
www.actionforme.org.uk www.actionforme.org.uk
 
Trish said:
The thing that has driven me mad with almost all the coverage including by government ministers is they keep talking about PIP as if it were income to live on for people not working, with part of the solution to get more people off it and into work.

That is wrong. It's an allowance to help cover the extra costs of daily living for people who need help to do ordinary activities and includes people who need things that cost money in order to be able to work. It used to be called Disability Living Allowance, which I think was clearer.

It's only the daily living component they are talking about cutting and making much harder to get. Yet even at maximum rate it only covers the cost of a few half hour carer visits a week.
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yes as I said a while ago, and they keep saying it.
Sly Saint

Post in thread 'UK: Disability benefits (UC, ESA and PIP) - news and updates 2024 and 2025'

The previous messing about with disability benefits, trying to in effect to remove the idea of disability (and sickness in the process of doing it) is something that no one seemed to have questioned before when it was 'happening'.

And although the media are still going on about Incapacity Benefit (replaced by Employment Support Allowance), none of them seem to have twigged that PIP (Personal independence payment) replaced Disability Living Allowance. (some of us are still on it).

They 'sold' the idea of PIP partly by saying that some people would actually be able to get more than they...
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From this article on the benefits and work website

The bill only covers those three issues. Every other proposal, such as the abolition of the WCA, the proposal to amalgamate contributory ESA and JSA into a single time limited contributory benefit ... They will all require separate legislation of their own.
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Yikes, does anyone know anything about this???!!

I hadnt heard of it. I've been on CB ESA since approx 2012 without any income related component. I hope they're not planning to scrap it/make it time limited.

Does anyone know where I can find out more about this bit?
 
Kitty said:
It's iniquitous that no allowance was made for people who don't need overnight care but are completely dependent on large pieces of equipment.

Anyone watching me manoeuvring an outdoor powerchair inside a social housing-sized home would immediately see that not only is it a big item that takes up a lot of space, three or four times that amount of space has to be left clear before I can turn it and move it around. The idea I could keep it in the sitting room or my bedroom is ridiculous; I need furniture in those rooms. The only other space big enough and clear enough to store it is the wetroom, but it would mean I couldn't use it as a wetroom.
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Yes. I think some people in this situation appealed the bedroom tax when it was first brought in, but I don't think they succeeded (they appealed on the basis that their 'spare room' had never been used as a bedroom, rather only for storage of disability equipment). Many people think council houses have large rooms, but only a very few do. In particular, most of the bungalows are tiny. I've been keeping my eye out for a rural one for a possible mutual exchange, but none have been suitable. I'm better off staying in my 2 storey semi-detached which has a large flat garden and drive (and does have a downstairs toilet as well as the upstairs bathroom). Most of the bungalows also have steps up to the front door and/or the garden, so they were never really designed with disabled (or even old...) people in mind! Edit: I think the new build ones are better designed, but they are far and few between and have tiny gardens and still no drives.

Most social housing doesn't even have a private drive and parking is difficult. Most do not have a garage or room to build one. Motobility are going over to only offering electric vehicles, so that is going to make it even more difficult for disabled people on the scheme in coming years as they will struggle to charge their cars (and certainly won't be able to use a cheap night-time electricity rate to do so).
 
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JemPD said:
I hadnt heard of it. I've been on CB ESA since approx 2012 without any income related component. I hope they're not planning to scrap it/make it time limited.

Does anyone know where I can find out more about this bit?
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I hadn't either.

But even if it goes ahead, it won't automatically affect existing claims. Not only because there'd be pushback, as on the other ridiculous ideas, but because the government's not daft. C-ESA is really cheap compared to I-ESA or UC with the health element.

The point of it seems to be to stop as many people as possible staying on it for long periods, because as we know, removing people's incomes makes their disabilities vanish into thin air. Poof! But the spell probably won't work as well on people who didn't get the magic wand waved at them soon enough.

Ugh. There's no point telling people not to worry because everybody's worried sick already, but there's not much we can do until we know what we're up agin.
 
MrMagoo said:
The bill passed
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It's not over yet. There's still the Committee and Report Stages and 3rd Reading. I think it will still go to the Lords, but as it's a money bill they can't make any amendments.

The committee stage of a bill is a detailed, line-by-line examination of the legislation, where MPs or Lords propose amendments (changes) to the bill's clauses and schedules. In the House of Commons, this is typically done by a Public Bill Committee, while in the House of Lords, it's usually the whole House or a Grand Committee.

Here's a more detailed breakdown:
Purpose:
  • The primary aim of the committee stage is to scrutinize the bill thoroughly and make necessary amendments to improve its clarity, effectiveness, and overall structure.
  • It's an opportunity to address concerns raised during the second reading and incorporate feedback from various stakeholders.
Process:





    • Public Bill Committee (Commons): A smaller group of MPs, reflecting the party balance in the House, is selected to examine the bill in detail.
    • Committee of the Whole House (Commons & Lords): In specific cases, like with important or urgent legislation, the entire House may sit as a committee.
    • Grand Committee (Lords): A smaller group within the Lords that can be used for committee stage.
    • Clause-by-clause scrutiny: The committee examines each clause and schedule of the bill, line by line and debates potential amendments

    All these stages in the Commons are being compressed into one day when it would normally take months or even years for a bill like this. More dirty dealing.

    Some MPs have said that they always intended to wait and see what amendments were passed before voting against on the 3rd Reading if they weren't satisfied.



 
Simbindi said:
The new 'severe conditions' group seems to have been created purely to allow the politicians (and the media) to promote the idea they are going to look after 'the most vulnerable'. It's complete gaslighting. Many people will never be able to work again in reality, despite not meeting this criteria. But even if they can't work for just a year or more, they won't be able to survive on the basic level of Universal Credit once any savings they may have get used up.

The situation is even worse if you are in private rented accommodation as the housing allowance is woefully less than the average rent. Whilst the rent allowance does cover the cost of social housing depending on your property size, the bedroom tax was brought in 2013, which means you may have to pay either 14% or 25% of your basic UC allowance towards your rent. That puts many long term sick and disabled claimants at risk of homelessness. II was in that position when they first brought this in, until I was awarded my PIP. In my area there isn't even any one bedroom social housing properties available, they never built them. So all the old people/disabled bungalows are 2 bedroom properties, now given to young families.
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I hadn't realised the 'severe conditions' group was in this bill. I thought I'd read all of the bill, but must have just started and intended to go back. That's awful and seems to have been overlooked. That should have extensive scrutiny.
 
Kitty said:
C-ESA is really cheap compared to I-ESA or UC with the health element.
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I didn't want to say because obviously halving what people currently get is awful, but I wasn't aware until recently that LCWRA get so much more than us on CB-ESA. Why is that? Was it a bribe to get people to transfer. I did get a letter about claiming IR a few years ago. I have savings and I didn't think I'd get much. I was worried about the implications and I'm glad I didn't pursue it because I couldn't cope with transferring to UC now.
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Kitty said:
I'm relieved I can't watch it, and will be coming home late tonight to find out whatever has happened.

It's great to hear that people have been speaking up so passionately, but it's too stressful and provoking. I don't seem to manage incandescent rage quite as well as I used to.
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I feel bad, because I got my hopes up while watching the debate and I feel guilty if I gave people false hope. I mean we've got a substantial stay of execution and the 4-points thing may be dead in the water. It is a major achievement that will save lives and a testimony to the massive effort so many people have put. I really appreciate the MPs who stuck with us.

But I feel like shit. I was crying most of yesterday, full body-shaking sobs like I haven't done for many years.

Also it looks Labour will now raise some tax revenue like they should have done from the start, but they are going to blame it on disabled people. I'm seeming some vile things. I really fear for people with visible disabilities out on the street or people with horrible neighbours.
 
tornandfrayed said:
But I feel like shit. I was crying most of yesterday, full body-shaking sobs like I haven't done for many years.
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I'm so sorry. You were brave to watch the debate. I could't bear to.
tornandfrayed said:
Also it looks Labour will now raise some tax revenue like they should have done from the start, but they are going to blame it on disabled people.
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Making this a money bill rather than a health and welfare bill is despicable. I have no words for the awfulness of the way they have framed the debate.
 
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