Latest news with #JamesWatson-O'Neill
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
The key change to PIP in the welfare bill that will affect your benefit payments
PIP claimants will be given three months of payments if their next application is rejected to adjust to life without the benefit, according to the government's newly published welfare bill. The first draft of the bill, published on Wednesday, includes a "transitional window" for claimants of the disability benefit totalling 13 weeks to soften the blow for those losing thousands of pounds as the government tightens the benefit's eligibility criteria. It is one of a number of measures the government has introduced to soften its controversial welfare bill over a fear of backlash from its own Labour MPs. However, the government has fallen short of making the qualifying for PIP less strict, which was meant to spare 195,000 fewer disabled people from losing out. Both campaigners and MPs have voiced concerns over the damage the cuts could cause for vulnerable and disabled people, with at least 800,000 people claiming PIP expected to lose an average of £4,500 per year by 2029/30. At the last count, a reported 170 MPs from Labour said they would oppose the bill during the parliamentary vote, which is expected later on this month. The plans were outlined by work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall earlier this year, who proposed overhauling welfare system through a series of benefit cuts. The move is expected to save the government £5bn as it restricts the eligibility criteria for PIP, as well as freezing the rate for the health component of universal credit. The bill is expected to be voted on by MPs later on this month. Yahoo News takes a look at what this means for PIP. When a PIP claimant receives the benefit, they are given a set amount of funding, which lasts for up to ten years. The amount of time this claim lasts varies. However, if a person's circumstances change, or their award expires, they need to apply to the department for work and pensions (DWP) to receive payments in the future. Now, if a person's next PIP claim is rejected, their claim is stopped entirely and their financial support is cut immediately. The only exception is if a person who has previously claimed youth disability benefit the disability living allowance (DLA), and applies for PIP when they turn 16 and has their claim rejected. Then, they are given five weeks of payments. Now, the government wants to introduce a transitional period so those who claim PIP and have their next claim rejected have financial support to adjust to to life without the benefit. This would also mean applicants have time to apply for another benefit and have it instated, if they qualify. Campaigners and charities have argued that with around 1.2 million people now expected to miss out on PIP until 2029/30, it's the least the government can do. James Watson-O'Neill, Chief Executive of the disability charity Sense, told Yahoo News: 'The government's proposed cuts to disability benefits will have devastating consequences for disabled people across the country - pushing thousands further into poverty, hardship, and isolation. 'Many disabled people already find themselves in debt because current benefits don't stretch far enough. Cutting support further at a time when the cost of living remains high is not only unjust — it is cruel. 'We urge MPs to listen to disabled people and reject this legislation. Our welfare system should support those who need it most — not abandon them.' The second reading of the bill will take place on Thursday 19 June.
The Independent
15-04-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Disabled children ‘waiting 200 days to be assessed for social care support'
Families with a disabled child are facing average waits of more than 200 days to get assessments for social care, according to research by a charity which said the system is 'failing'. Almost a fifth of families (17%) surveyed across the UK for national disability charity Sense said they had waited more than a year to be seen by children's social services. The charity said the current system sees parents having to 'fight for the care their children deserve'. Its polling, carried out by Censuswide, of 1,000 parents or carers of a disabled child in the UK in February and March this year suggested an average wait of around 210 days for an assessment by social services. The charity, which said there are 1.8 million disabled children in the UK, said waiting for an assessment leaves families without appropriate support from their local authority. Sense said there must be a new legal duty introduced to assess all disabled children 'streamlining the process for families and ensuring all children get the best start in life'. Sense chief executive James Watson-O'Neill, called for 'urgent reform' to ensure all children in need get adequate support 'without facing unacceptable delays'. He said: 'Access to high quality support can be life changing – it is the difference between a child feeling lonely and left behind, and a child having the support they need to grow, learn and thrive. 'But the social care system is failing disabled children and leaving families at breaking point. Parents shouldn't have to fight for the care their children deserve. We need urgent reform to ensure all children get the support they need without facing unacceptable delays. 'Disabled children should not be bearing the brunt of a broken system. We're calling on the Government to make disabled children a priority, by establishing a clear and consistent pathway to support and a national threshold to assess all disabled children. 'These must be backed by adequate funding and investment in local services.' A Government spokesperson said: 'This Government inherited a children's social care system failing to meet the needs of this country's most vulnerable children and in dire need of reform. 'As part of our Plan for Change, we're ensuring thousands more families will have the support of a specialist worker to help them overcome challenges, including managing a child's disabilities, by doubling council funding for early intervention from this year. 'We're also thinking differently about what the Send system should look like, starting by investing £1 billion into Send and £740 million to encourage councils to create more specialist places in mainstream schools, paving the way for significant, long-term reform.'
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Disabled children ‘waiting 200 days to be assessed for social care support'
Families with a disabled child are facing average waits of more than 200 days to get assessments for social care, according to research by a charity which said the system is 'failing'. Almost a fifth of families (17%) surveyed across the UK for national disability charity Sense said they had waited more than a year to be seen by children's social services. The charity said the current system sees parents having to 'fight for the care their children deserve'. Its polling, carried out by Censuswide, of 1,000 parents or carers of a disabled child in the UK in February and March this year suggested an average wait of around 210 days for an assessment by social services. The charity, which said there are 1.8 million disabled children in the UK, said waiting for an assessment leaves families without appropriate support from their local authority. Sense said there must be a new legal duty introduced to assess all disabled children 'streamlining the process for families and ensuring all children get the best start in life'. Sense chief executive James Watson-O'Neill, called for 'urgent reform' to ensure all children in need get adequate support 'without facing unacceptable delays'. He said: 'Access to high quality support can be life changing – it is the difference between a child feeling lonely and left behind, and a child having the support they need to grow, learn and thrive. 'But the social care system is failing disabled children and leaving families at breaking point. Parents shouldn't have to fight for the care their children deserve. We need urgent reform to ensure all children get the support they need without facing unacceptable delays. 'Disabled children should not be bearing the brunt of a broken system. We're calling on the Government to make disabled children a priority, by establishing a clear and consistent pathway to support and a national threshold to assess all disabled children. 'These must be backed by adequate funding and investment in local services.' A Government spokesperson said: 'This Government inherited a children's social care system failing to meet the needs of this country's most vulnerable children and in dire need of reform. 'As part of our Plan for Change, we're ensuring thousands more families will have the support of a specialist worker to help them overcome challenges, including managing a child's disabilities, by doubling council funding for early intervention from this year. 'We're also thinking differently about what the Send system should look like, starting by investing £1 billion into Send and £740 million to encourage councils to create more specialist places in mainstream schools, paving the way for significant, long-term reform.'
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The key PIP changes and what they mean for your benefit payments
Disabled people will miss out on vital disability benefits after the government announced it would be overhauling the welfare system on Tuesday. Personal independence payments — PIP — will undergo a series of changes that will limit who will be eligible for the payments. The government said the reforms are part of its plan "sets out decisive action to fix the broken benefits system". It added that those with the most severe disabilities will be protected. Read our live coverage of reaction to Labour's cuts to disability benefits here The Disability Benefits Consortium, an umbrella body representing more than 100 charities and organisations, condemned the 'cruel cuts'. and said they would push more disabled people into poverty, and worsen people's health.' PIP eligibility criteria tightened for those claiming daily living support will be tightened Assessment overhaul: Assessments will be now recorded to "establish trust" as part of an overhaul of the assessment system PIP voucher plans scrapped. These had been potentially mooted as part of a government consultation PIP will not be frozen or means-tested, as per previous reports, and will instead rise with inflation Here's a more detailed breakdown of what this could mean for claimants. From November 2026, those claiming the daily living element of PIP will need to score a minimum of four points during their assessment for the benefit in one single activity to qualify for support. Currently, claimants need to score a minimum of eight points across multiple activities to reach the threshold for support. Kendall has said this will only affect the daily living element of PIP, not the mobility element. According to i news, the new thresholds will exclude, among others, many autistic people, those with ADHD and mental health difficulties The charity Sense has called the cut "draconian", and said it is "deeply concerned" about the plans. "Personal independence payment (PIP) was never designed to help people find work," the charity's chief executive James Watson-O'Neill told Yahoo News. "It's about helping disabled people cover the extra costs of living with a disability, which often enables them to stay in employment." The PIP assessment is used to figure out how much financial support someone claiming PIP needs. The process has been a bone of contention for a lot of claimants, who find it undignified, inaccessible, and sometimes inaccurate. In response, the government will review the assessment to make sure "it is fit for purpose", and to "re-establish trust". It will also record assessments to "give people the confidence they're being done properly". In addition, if you claim PIP and universal credit, you will only need to go through one assessment in the future after the government confirmed the work capability assessment (WCA) for universal credit will be scrapped from 2028. Currently, PIP payments are made as direct bank transfers to a person's account. The Conservatives considered changing these payments to vouchers, so that people would have to use them in certain shops as a replacement for cash. At the time, the Disability Poverty Campaign Group branded the vouchers 'dehumanising' and said it would 'use all possible avenues to challenge the implication that disabled people eligible for PIP lack the capacity to manage cash-based income'. The Labour government has refused to rule out whether it will be continuing with those plans, up until this point. Now, it has said it will be scrapping the plans to make these voucher payments. Charities have repeatedly emphasised that PIP is a benefit that helps people with the extra costs of living with a disability, whether they have a job or not. The government has scrapped its plans to freeze or means-test PIP, which means the amount claimants receive will still rise in line with inflation. The amount you receive will also not be linked to how much you earn.
