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Time running out to challenge PIP vouchers as Labour stay silent

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The consultation on plans to replace personal independence payment (PIP) with vouchers or a catalogue ends on 22 July, with Labour so far showing no signs of disowning the proposals.  Benefits and Work is urging readers to have their say before it is too late.

As most readers will be aware, the Conservatives published a Green Paper on the future of PIP in April 2024.  Amongst the proposals were suggestions that instead of regular cash payments, PIP could be replaced with:

  • A catalogue/shop scheme
  • A voucher scheme
  • A receipt based system
  • One-off grants

Labour failed to condemn these proposals in the run-up to the general election and have continued to remain silent since gaining power, even though there is now no risk of them losing votes by speaking out.

According to the Mirror:

“Labour insiders have hinted they'll review the public's response to these proposals after the consultation wraps up on July 22, which falls three weeks post-election.”

Labour have also said nothing about planned changes to the work capability assessment (WCA) from 2025, that would lead to an estimated 424,000 claimants losing over £400 a month.

Ten leading charities, including:

  • Child Poverty Action Group
  • Disability Rights UK
  • Joseph Rowntree Foundation
  • Mind
  • Save the Children

have written to Liz Kendall, secretary of state for work and pensions.  They have asked her to halt the proposed changes to the WCA and to PIP and replace them with plans that are “redesigned with disabled people at the centre.”

So far, there has been no response.

You can find out more about the changes to PIP and how to take part in the consultation here.

UPDATE 11 July

Liz Kendall made a speech in Leeds today in which she said that rising levels of economic inactivity are unacceptable and that immediate action must be taken.  She highlighted the fact that a record 2.8 million people are out of work due to long-term sickness. 

Kendall said that the government would: ".... create more good jobs, make work pay, transform skills, and overhaul jobcentres, alongside action to tackle the root causes of worklessness including poor physical and mental health."

Kendall made no reference to PIP or work capability assessment changes and did not address the issue of the speeded-up timetable for forced migration to universal credit.

More details here.

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  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    John
    · 3 months ago
    had letter from dwp
    They still not decided but have extended to 10th September 2025
    Says we will contact u before then if not we will extend it again…annoying that sent off form at start of the year..I have a long term illness and if anything going to get worse as no cure labour has well and truly stripped the disabled …and this isn’t right 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Sheila mcgowran
    · 3 months ago
    Stop messing with things that are not broke leave it alone 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Tre Vader
    · 3 months ago
    Just when you thought the government couldn't get any dumber, they now want to take the money from the most needy and give them vouchers, which I'd imagine can only be spent in certain shops, as opposed to money which can be spent in EVERY SHOP, plus people will only end up selling the vouchers for maybe half price, or less, leading to bigger problems and a black market for the vouchers, plain idiotic, like the song says, "bring down the government, they don't speak for us".
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Melanie
    · 3 months ago
    PIP CASH NOT VOUCHERS please. Therapy only works when the individual is ready to pursue it. Entering therapy because you have been forced, never works. It will be a waste of the cost of the voucher and where will all the therapists be found? The vouchers certainly will not cover a private therapist whose sessions are £80+ each week.
    I have CKD, RA and Caudal Equina Syndrome from a crushed spinal cord and all of the fatigue, pain, double incontinence and poor mobility that go with them.
    I manage permitted work hours and using pip as money gives me choices and yes, I absolutely depend on it to pay my way. But, it enables me to 'live' and not just 'exist'. I already have all the mobility aids I need, so there will be more Gov money wasted on vouchers.
    When I worked full time, each day I literally fell out of the car, crawled through my front door, crawled up the stairs and into bed. I never saw my children or my husband, except when they came to check on me. I was no longer a wife or mother, in my opinion.
    With pip as money, and cbESA I can work a few hours, I can rest, I can manage my pain, I can spend 3 hours in the bathroom 'sorting myself', I have a choice in carers, I can have a friend, I can be the wife and mother I want to be, this freedom  makes me feel good about life and living and not the guilt-ridden, useless burden and drain that I used to feel (my own feelings, not a judgment). The thought of having vouchers sat unused in a drawer or app fills me with utter dread. A waste of resource, a waste of money and then a waste of life.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Anon
      · 2 months ago
      @Anonymous Hi I also suffer with spinal arthritis , sciatica in my upper and lower spine , had a fusion, discetomy and have just waited 18 months for injections in my lower spine that b4 the pandemic I got 6 monthly, the waiting list for pain clinic is 63 weeks even if you are already a patient . I suffer from sleep apnea , copd, have arthritis in both hips and worsening neck  and Lower spine issues , I have a skin condition called nodular pirigo which is an incurable , I have tinnitus , hearing loss so I wear hearing aids and diabetes and hyperlipidema, drop foot and shortening of an inch on one leg due to getting run over at 17 and finally essential tremor . I do work full time from home , I’m 63 , so yep have to wait 7 extra years for my pension. I earn significantly lower than the national average. I use the pathetic amount of pip I was awarded ( I don’t get mobility at the higher rate ) so yes I pay for a car but am apparently  allowed 50 percent off my car tax but I have to pay it all up front . The lower rate of the living part of pip pays for my broadband mobile and heating because working from home cost money , hay ho though guess what I can claim a tiny allowance off my tax to negate these costs - £4 per week !! Oh and I look after my mother who has dementia, she can’t walk talk , feed herself in doubly in continent , she gets attendance allowance but no wheelchair mobility vehicle , attendance allowance doesn’t entitle you to mobility or even reduced car tax , my dad has had to sell the family home and move into an old persons facility , he pays for all her care and at aged 89 still cares for her feeds her,etc , he had numerous serious health issues including 2 different types of cancer and is going blind . Please tell me how vouchers are going to help me please ? Oh and then when my parents pass , there will be inheritance tax as well as the charges to pay on there flat until it gets sold , then we will have to pay for care for ourselves  as well as tax on the savings ( if they have money left by then )  oh I forgot to mention I was a HMForced wife for 30 years , when we were posted abroad Iwe could only work for the military and they paid you local wages which did not include pension , so my husband does get a pension but that had too pay for both of us . Apologies rant over ! Just needed to get the frustration of this daft new system out of mine !! 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Anonymous
      · 3 months ago
      @Melanie Melanie your comments are very true. I have the exact health issues as you do, along with chronic sciatica and arthritis in both hips both hands both feet, c3 c4 L4 L5 S1. Unable to put my feet on the floor. I've had many hospital visits in a wheelchair left screaming for hours on end if it wasn't for my pip money I wouldn't have been able to get to the hospital.  With all my health issues they only gave me a 2 year pip award  ad a rejection of the mobility part although I sent my hospital records along with the application I didn't get a choice to answer this part for mobility she did it for me saying nope you don't need that. I gave up in the end let her answer the questions for me xx
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Debbie
    · 3 months ago
    I live with my ADUK assistance dog who has just retired. I am training my successor dog. Insurance food and vets bills. Will I have vouchers to cover these. They save a lot of care costs. I see an osteopath and recently fractured my shoulder. Friends helped and it is fair that I paid them some cash to cover their fuel costs and a friends school age daughter stepped in to help, I gave her some pocket money. Adult social care have not stepped in or helped. Last year I hurt my other arm they told me to wear tena pads when I said I needed  help washing my clothes and bedding. I am not incontinent and how would I wrestle one of those on one handed. My ex husband had to help me this year to wash and dress not what either of us would prefer. Emergency care is not rapid. 
    Friends stepped in to walk my dogs if not a dog walker would of been a other expense. 
    Everyone's needs are so unique I do not think they have  thought this through. 

  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    CONNOR
    · 3 months ago
    I am Profound Deaf and always use British Sign Language from first Language. I have a Cerebral Palsy both my legs as we.. I am really worry about PIP. I am always want use PIP with our CASH and NOT VOUCHERS are not perfect helpfully at all. Because I have a PIP Motability Car and hope not lost my Motability Car. As I can remember who work before Ex-Assessment Support Worker have a disgrace about Cerebral Palsy to me for sure. Make a me so hurt a lot. Decide I have a time it's PIP with our CASH and NOT VOUCHERS. 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Jamie Marks
    · 3 months ago
    This looks like a Diaster for Disabled people I pay £445.07 4wkly to local authority to pay for my Care package out of Enhanced PIP Care component . I also use my Enhanced Mobility for cab fares & mileage for my PA Personal Assistant who takes me out in the Community once per/week. Six days confined to my home as can not self propel Wheelchair on pavements get up inclines in Manuel outside NHS Wheelchair also have indoor prescribed NHS Electric powered Wheelchair ♿️. 

  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Matt
    · 3 months ago
    As many readers will no doubt have seen on the news, Reeves has started to wield the axe: means testing for the winter fuel allowance; abolition of the social care cap. The Budget is set for 30th October. She has already stated that there will be 'difficult decisions' on spending and welfare. I would suspect Kendall's White Paper on welfare reform will have been published by then.

    I have said in a number of occasions and I'll reiterate it now: PIP as we have become used to is finished. What will replace it is anyone's guess, but restrictions on eligibility, means testing, the benefit being taxed, and conditionality being attached to receiving PIP are more than likely.

    I would welcome any constructive thoughts on how disabled people can mitigate a further cut in their living standards. I, for one, will have to seek, if possible, better paid employment
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Henry
      · 3 months ago
      @Matt I've read that they will likely do it when your particular award comes up for review. The bar will be set higher as it seems there are millions who haven't even sent any hospital documents to the DWP. I find that unbelievable, as it seems really hard nowadays to get pip. I think they seem to be targeting working age people with mental health issues. Getting them back to work etc.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Elle
      · 3 months ago
      @Betty Yes, but not everyone is able to work. My young adult daughter has brain damage, she can never be cured or mended
      Work for her is impossible, not because she doesn't want to, but like many others suffering various disabilities, it is literally impossible
       Labour will ''lump'' all together and remove an essential lifeline. If they can really hurt pensioners, Labour will have no qualms removing PIP
      We are worried as her PIP helps with costs able bodied do not have
      I'm well into my 50s and already work a 45 hr week to pay all, so if Labour remove daughter's PIP I will need to work an extra 15 hrs minimum to cover her costs
      Truly believe labour are attacking the weakest and most vulnerable in society, whilst dolling out Billions and Billions to foreign lands for ''climate reparations'' more Billions on 'quango's' and astronomical 500,000 public servants when their productivity is rock bottom
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Betty
      · 3 months ago
      @Matt I work full time with mental health issues and I would imagine a large percentage of the polulation do the same.  For me, after nine years out of work, it was a tough journey getting back into work.  The longer a person is out of work, the harder it is to get back to work.  We tend to settle into I can't do this and I can't that.  

       Not all people on PIP use the money for it's purpose.  Surely, if a person is addicted to drugs/alcohol or has anxiety/panic attack the best way to help these people is to give the right sort of help.  Therapy, rehab,  etc.  How does PIP help addictions, apart from giving them money to buy the very thing they need help with.  Excluding the people who clearly need Pip,  there should be 6 montly conditions tied with entitlement.  PIP is not  always for life.   Gaining confidence,  gaining the skills to deal with life, stress, anxiety,  maturing emotionally, all these can be gained through therapy. 

  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    sue eastick
    · 3 months ago
    I have severe osteo Arthritis, Diabetes an irregular heart rhytym, Thyroid problems and Asthma.  I cannot do regular work but have paid into the system when I was working for 38 years. I don't think its right for Labour to do this. Who do they think they are. Someone should get them too meet with the disabled of britain we would tell them exactly how we feel about their stupid idea
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Elle
      · 3 months ago
      @Anon They will though, if they can take pensioners cold weather payments, they'll have no qualms stopping all PIP
      Like Sue, we're worried sick, as my adult daughter has brain damage. Highly likely they'll stop her PIP so I'll need to work at least an extra 15 hrs/week to cover that. In my 50s don't relish doing a 60hr week
      Billions & Billions given to foreign lands, taken from the most vulnerable in society
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Anon
      · 3 months ago
      @sue eastick Please try and stay calm, they haven't done anything yet 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Jeremy
    · 3 months ago
    They just have another 3.5 billion to Ukraine and they are not saying wether this green paper is scrapped. Labour if you go ahead with this cruel Tory green paper, I’ll never vote for you again. 

    To anyone who questions why I mention the Ukraine war, well it’s a budgeting choice. They choose to and can afford to fund a war, that is not our own ( and is about gas exploration Google it ) yet they are not saying whether they will cancel fbis cruel Tory policy. Scrape the green paper. Or pay the political price. 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Ruhel
      · 2 months ago
      @Henry A life of a disabled is limited, when the vouchers are introduced living will be more limited, 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Henry
      · 3 months ago
      @Jeremy Don't think they are worried about the next election. Both parties are different cheeks of the same backside .They just pass the baton over 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Brian Marriott
    · 3 months ago
    I would never be able to use a voucher I get stressed a lot money is the only way 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Not known
    · 3 months ago
    The people of the labour government need to listen get Britain working ? Right ok we hear you BUT WHAT ABOUT PEOPLE IN THE SUPPPRT GROUP WHO CANNOT WORK what is for them ? People
    Of the labour government who are left with a mess to sort out your are targeting the most vunerable people here people who depend on the money for bills taxi personal
    Care which they pay for out of this benefit the people
    With mobility issues who have to reley on help
    Of other people also carers I  e me who has cared for my husband from the age of 30 27 yrs held a job and a full time carer yes un paid as well as dealt with every app hosp gp clinic
    Never asked for help you need to look at this and wake up and listen your playing with the life labour will speak in due corse we hear you but when ??? People arnt sleeping they are worried give the people respect and answer the question we don't want vouchers we don't want catalogue some of us have bought our own equipment and got help from our local councils please answer the question no vouchers please 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Linda
    · 3 months ago
    I am 68 I have Raynards, Systemic Sclerosis, Pulmonary Fibrosis & Congested Heart Failure & have been receiving the enhanced rate of PIP for several years.  I have paid income tax & national insurance all my working life, before retirement.

    Vouchers are not going to pay for the central heating which I need virtually all year round due to Raynsrds & SS or pay for steam treatments & massages to help with joint pain.  Because the NHS is broken I pay for these treatments myself.

    Is it asking too much for government to flush out & crack down on the fraudsters who abuse the benefit system & put disabled people at risk of loosing what we desperately need PIP CASH NOT VOUCHERS.  Yes it probably is asking too much, after all MPs scammed their expenses to line their own pockets, ripped off PPE, wasted millions on Rowanda, spent millions on HS2 & then not complete it!

    I think it is heartless that we through no fault of our own suffer our conditions physically, mentally, emotionally, on a daily basis should have this added worry & stress.  Life is hard enough!
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Brian Marriott
    · 3 months ago
    Everyone wants pip as money not voucher
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Betty
    · 3 months ago
    Pip can cause a barrier to health.  Pip does not encourage people to try overcome some of their dificulties, it traps them.  I have had mental health problems for a fair number of years but at that time treatment was available with short waiting lists.  Today,people may have to wait five years for therapy.  I really believe therapy vouchers are a good idea.  Pip is not always for life and people need try to work towards finding their potential.   The thing is, when a person has been receiving such high amounts of benefits, it is very difficult to work and earn and income to match it and that's how it becomes a trap.  Some people do need Pip because their condition is lifelong which affects their daily living.  
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Z
      · 3 months ago
      @Betty Ok, therapy vouchers will never cover actually price for therapy as it will be private and most people on PIp - therapy isn’t an answer as they can’t be cured 🤦‍♀️
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Jon
      · 3 months ago
      @Betty Well said
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Anon
      · 3 months ago
      @Betty I agree 100%. There will always be some very severely disabled people who will never be able to work or care for themselves, these people should be helped and protected at all costs.

    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Brian Marriott
      · 3 months ago
      @Betty That’s silly of u they should give people like u just vouchers and the people who want the money keep the money as vouchers won’t help 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Anon
    · 3 months ago
    This is all putting me in a really bad emotional space. They must know it will hurt us all.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Brian Marriott
    · 3 months ago
    Everyone wants pip as money not voucher 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Matt
    · 3 months ago
    Change is coming to the welfare state for all working age people. Rather than just keep saying keep PIP as it is, what changes would you be content (rather than happy) to accept?

    If Labour are truly focused on employment then the Equality Act must be tightened so that employers will have to take on disabled staff. This must also run along very stiff anti ageism legislation - it'll be the only way to substantially reduce the benefit bill.

    At least Reform advocated no tax to be paid on salaries less than £20K a year 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Anon
    · 3 months ago
    We are not wanted anymore as we are not usefull to society

    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      ann
      · 3 months ago
      @tills workers  get targeted too 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      tills
      · 3 months ago
      @Anon If the government wants to save money then stop paying ex prime ministers and the house of lords. It's always same groups being targeted the disabled and the elderly 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Brian Marriott
    · 3 months ago
    We all reject pip voucher we all want pip money 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Sarah Rowsell
      · 3 months ago
      @Brian Marriott I agree with you brain It helps me pay for my bills and shopping and getting clothes for my me and my son and I definitely want the pip money to stay. And the pip voucher wouldn’t even work as everyone relies on the pip money as it helps them with everything they need.

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