The savagery of Labour’s cuts to benefits was laid bare today, with the revelation that 250,000 people, including 50,000 children, will be plunged into relative poverty as a result of benefits cuts. 370,000 current PIP claimants are expected to lose their PIP daily living component when their award is reviewed after November 2026.
Figures from the Office For Budget Responsibility (OBR) and the DWP’s own impact and equality assessments emphasise how these cuts are aimed almost solely at disabled people.
According to the DWP:
- Just 0.1 million families with no disability in the household will lose out, 4% of all those affected.
- 1 million families with some disability in the household will lose out, 96% of all those affected.
This represents one in five of all families with a disabled person in the household. The average loss will be £1,720 per year compared to inflation.
370,00 current PIP recipients are expected to lose entitlement to the daily living component on review after November 2026, plus 430,000 future recipients. The average loss is £4,500 per year.
2.25 million current recipients of UC Health (LCWRA) will be hit by the freeze to this element, with an average loss of £500 a year– although they benefit from the increase in the standard allowance.
In reality, the effects of the cuts could be even greater.
58% of new PIP claimants and 52% of PIP award reviews do not score any 4 point daily living descriptors. So, on the face of it, this would reduce the number of people getting PIP daily living by 1.5 million by 2029-30, virtually one third.
But the OBR guesses, and they admit it is only guesswork, that the actual number who lose the daily living component will be reduced to 800,000 because people will fight harder to be awarded a 4 point descriptor, including by challenging decisions.
Whatever the final figure, these cuts represent an unprecedented attack on disabled people that many Labour MPs must be desperate to avoid taking responsibility for.
But, probably within a month or two, they will have to start trooping through the division lobbies to show their wholehearted support for a policy of impoverishing disabled families in order to balance the books.
You can download the DWP Impact assessment and the equality analysis from the bottom of this page
