Don’t take the ‘Independence’ out of ‘Personal Independence Payment’!

In April, the Conservative government launched a consultation about the welfare benefit called Personal Independence Payment (PIP). It stated that the government was worried about the increasing number of people claiming PIP, highlighted the growing cost of providing PIP, and contained a number of suggestions that have caused a lot of worry for people who receive PIP.

Merton CIL calls upon the Department for Work and Pensions to scrap the previous government’s suggested PIP reforms, and to work with Disabled people to think afresh about how PIP could be changed to make the application process fairer, to help more Disabled people to live independently.

The worst suggestion was that cash payments could be replaced by one of the following:

Vouchers
Access to a shop/catalogue
Access to certain types of support or treatment, like physiotherapy
A system which would force people to submit receipts to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)

It also made some very concerning suggestions about how the assessment process and eligibility criteria could change.

If the suggestions were adopted, it would become even more complicated to claim PIP, and would take away people’s choice and control over what they spend their money on. This would result in fewer people receiving the support that they need, and would essentially remove the ‘Independence’ part of ‘Personal Independence Payment’!

We were hoping that the Labour government would simply scrap the consultation before the deadline on 22 July. However, they chose not to do so.

We have submitted a response, which you can read here.

We have also contacted the Labour MP for Mitcham and Morden, Siobhain McDonagh, and the Liberal Democrat MP for Wimbledon, Paul Kohler, to ask them to use their positions to ensure that any review of PIP that takes place is focused on improving the application process and helping Disabled people to live independently.

For more information, or if you have any questions or comments, please contact our Policy and Campaigns Manager, Dr Pippa Maslin, at pippa@mertoncil.org.uk or on 07884 232391.