UK Government concessions not enough: Help maintain pressure on MPs to vote against damaging benefit cuts
Thanks to your persistent campaigning, the UK Government is offering major concessions to its planned cuts to health and disability benefits. But the concessions don’t go far enough. We need your support in maintaining pressure on MPs to vote against the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment bill on Tuesday 1 July. No one with sight loss, now or in the future, should be pushed into poverty by the cuts or lose out on essential support to live independently.
Read on for our response to the updated changes, and join us in continuing to call on MPs to vote against the plans on Tuesday 1 July. Over 2,300 of you have written to your MP so far, reaching 93 per cent of all MPs – the pressure you’ve put on has worked.
What concessions are being reported?
Existing PIP recipients won't now see any changes
Under the UK Government plans, the PIP eligibility criteria are to be tightened, making it harder for some blind and partially sighted people to qualify for the daily living component of PIP.
The UK Government has now reportedly said that existing PIP claimants will not be impacted by this change and will continue to receive what they currently get.
It is also being reported that current recipients of the Universal Credit health element will continue to receive what they currently get.
The exact details of the changes to the bill are expected to be published on Monday 30 June.
While this will come as a relief to existing claimants, this will create an unjust two-tiered health and disability benefit system.
We know people with sight loss face additional, unavoidable costs regardless of when their sight loss begins. It is unacceptable that someone newly diagnosed with sight loss in 2027 could be penalised by the tightened PIP criteria, whereas current PIP claimants can maintain this essential financial support.
Increasing health element of Universal Credit in line with inflation
The Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill sets out plans to change incapacity benefits under Universal Credit, which currently give some claimants an additional £416 a month.
Another concession being reported is that the health element of Universal Credit will be increased in line with inflation, rather than frozen until 2029 as had previously been planned.
While this is welcome, it is not clear if this will apply to all claimants or only existing and any new claimant meeting the severe conditions criteria. This is something we will be seeking clarity on.
New claimants from 2026 still also appear to be hit by the halving of the health element. We do not support a two-tiered system, which could make it even harder for blind and partially sighted people in the future to meet essential bills.
Review of the PIP assessment
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Liz Kendall, said she would bring forward a more fundamental review into the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) system.
This is much needed and needs to become before any changes to the PIP eligibility criteria.
Currently, far too many blind and partially sighted people have to appeal decisions before getting what they’re entitled to. The appeal success rate for blind and partially sighted claimants, supported by RNIB’s legal rights and welfare benefit sight loss services, for example, is 97 per cent. Something is really going wrong.
Rather than taking away essential support from disabled people in the future, the UK Government should be focusing on improving benefit decision-making and reducing the number of benefit claims that unnecessarily go to appeal, saving both money and stress all round.
Bringing forward the spend on employment support
The UK Government is reportedly bringing forward a £1 billion package of tailored support to help disabled people into work, to begin this year rather than 2029 as had originally been planned.
This is welcome and something we recommended to the Minister for Social Security and Disability at a recent meeting. Alongside partners in the disability sector, we stand ready to support the UK Government to shape this support, so it works for blind and partially sighted job seekers.
The same priority and scale of resourcing is urgently needed to fix the appalling Access to Work delays if blind and partially sighted people are to be successfully supported to stay in or enter work.
Employers also need educating to ensure their practices and workplace environments are inclusive and accessible, including for employees who develop sight loss while in work. In 2023, YouGov polling for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Eye Health and Visual Impairment found an alarming 25 per cent of surveyed employers said they would not be willing to make workplace adaptations and adjustments in order to employ a blind or partially sighted person.
We have been sharing experiences and best practice with the UK Government’s independent review on inclusive employment [link: Find out how we're influencing the UK Gov's Keep Britain Working review | RNIB]. The review is due to present recommendations to the UK Government in the Autumn. These recommendations need to be listened to and implemented.
Write to your MP
Your fantastic campaigning so far has seen the UK Government concede on elements of their benefit plans, with over 2,300 of you having written to your MP! However, these concessions don’t go far enough to alleviate the damaging impact they could have on some blind and partially sighted people.
Join us and urge your MP to vote against the Bill this coming Tuesday.
