Where are we now? The benefits U-turn unpacked

After a tumultuous afternoon in Parliament, blind and partially sighted people could be forgiven for wondering what it all means for them. Below we unpack what happened, and what we expect to happen next.

What happened?

Tuesday afternoon was the first opportunity for MPs to debate the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill in the House of Commons.

In the run up to the debate, RNIB and 85 other charities called for the bill to be dropped altogether, because MPs were being asked to vote on a bill that has been brought before Parliament:

• Without consultation with disabled people.
• Without any assessment of its impact on health and employment outcomes.
• Before a planned review of the PIP assessment has properly begun its work.
• Without knowing how the outcome of the PIP review may affect these reforms.

Many MPs raised concerns about the changes being put forward, and the impact that cuts would have on disabled constituents. After more than five hours of debate, with a series of passionate speeches from MPs, an attempt to stop the bill proceeding altogether was blocked in an initial vote. A subsequent vote saw the legislation progress to its next stage but only because the government committed to removing the section relating to changes to Personal Independence Payment (PIP).

A review into the PIP assessment, activities and descriptors had already been announced. But many MPs argued that it was absurd to be voting to take forward changes to PIP before that review had even begun. They also pointed out that a concession stating that existing recipients of PIP would not be subject to the new and more stringent assessment criteria for the daily living allowance was great news for those existing recipients, but would create an unfair two-tier benefit system, or even a three-tier system depending on how changes were to be introduced.

RNIB highlighted in briefings to MPs that the additional costs of living with sight loss – such as the need for assistive technology, equipment, and other support – would be the same regardless of when someone with sight loss applies for PIP. Depriving applicants with sight loss from November 2026 of the support which existing recipients have would be completely unjust.

The outcome and next steps

The U-turn only applied to changes to PIP, meaning that the existing plans to halve the health element of Universal Credit for new applicants from April 2026 onwards are still part of this draft legislation. This would reduce that element of the payment from £97 to £50 a week. We maintain that this will be damaging for those blind and partially sighted people who need this support in future to cover their essential costs.

However, the fact that the pressure applied to MPs was so substantial that the proposals to tighten the eligibility for the daily living component of PIP had to be shelved, is a significant achievement for disabled people.

We especially want to thank more than 2,800 campaigners who contacted more than 98 per cent of MPs to raise their concerns with them. Alongside many other disabled people’s groups and organisations, we could not be ignored.

The government has now published details of the changes it is making to its own draft legislation, confirming the concessions announced ahead of Second Reading. The bill is set to be scrutinised again by MPs in an accelerated process on 9 July, before going to the House of Lords. However, the convention is that Peers would not be expected to make changes to a bill related to public spending.

Vivienne Francis, RNIB’s Chief Strategy and Public Affairs Officer, said:

“While our preference was for this bill to be dropped altogether, the fact that such a major last-minute concession was made is indicative of the need to listen far, far earlier and far more intently to disabled people.

“RNIB vows to play a robust part in the forthcoming review of the PIP assessment, alongside blind and partially sighted people, to ensure their needs are heard and acted upon although it remains to be seen what the status of that review will be in practice.”

Read RNIB’s full press statement on the outcome of the vote.

What is the ‘Timms Review’ of PIP? And how will RNIB take part?

Details of the review were published the day before MPs voted. The government says that the review, led by Disabilities Minister, Sir Stephen Timms MP, will include looking at the role of the PIP assessment as the future gateway to health-related disability benefits. It will examine the assessment criteria, the evidence the assessment draws upon, and the role of the assessment in unlocking wider support for claimants.

Underpinning the review are a number of stated principles, including crucially that "the review will be co-produced with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, clinicians, experts, MPs and other stakeholders, so a wide range of views and voices are heard."

This is critical for us. A fundamental failing in the design of the now withdrawn proposals was that disabled people’s voices were not being listened to. In the weeks ahead, RNIB, and our allies in both the Vision Partnership and the Disability Charities Consortium, will be meeting with ministers and civil servants to understand what this co-production will look like and to press for a step change in how policy is made.

At the point of publication the timeline for the review was for it to conclude by Autumn 2026. This may now speed up in light of the importance of the review following the government’s U-turns. The review will report to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, who will then decide what steps to take.

At the same time as speaking up for blind and partially sighted people’s entitlements to disability benefits, we’ll also be pressing the government for far more detail on the employment support that is being brought forward, and for urgent action to fix the broken Access to Work scheme so that many more blind and partially sighted people can remain in or gain employment.