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Green Paper Discussion – Have you responded yet? — Scope | Online Community
Green Paper Consultation Details
The Government published a Green Paper and a consultation about changes to disability benefits. This now includes accessible formats, and details of in person and virtual events (which can be found at the "how can I get involved section of this post").
NEW: Links to all accessible documents:
The above documents includes proposed changes to:
- Universal Credit (UC)
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
- Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
We have a comprehensive guide to what the proposed changes are on our website Changes to disability benefits, and have summarised some of this below:
What do these proposed changes mean for disabled people?
These proposals would mean that access to disability benefits changes for a lot of disabled people. Changes to the PIP eligibility criteria mean that it will be much harder to get PIP. This may make the assessment more stressful as well.
Scrapping the WCA means that disabled people will only have to go through the PIP assessment for disability benefits. While fewer assessments may be less stressful, this means that disabled people must qualify for PIP to get the health element. The restricted eligibility for PIP will mean it is much harder to get any disability benefits at all.
Disabled young people aged between 18 and 21 will be some of the most affected. Many young disabled people aged between 18 and 21 who do not get PIP may not be eligible for any health-related benefits at all. Most young disabled people on Universal Credit aged 18 to 21 will also have to look for work until they are 22.
There is still a lot of detail about these changes that we don’t know yet. The Government has yet to publish an Impact Assessment of the proposals. This will tell us more about how disabled people might be affected.
When are these changes happening?
It is important to know that none of these changes will happen immediately.
The Government is proposing to start bringing in some of these changes from 2026 and 2027. We can't be sure at this stage, but we expect this means most changes won't happen until at least 2026.
It is important to remember as well that this Green Paper is only the first step towards changing disability benefits. The consultation will run until 30 June 2025. Afterwards, the Government will analyse the results. Their plans may change as a result of our feedback.
Changes to PIP and the WCA, which government are not consulting on, will need legislation to become law. This means MPs will have to debate the proposals in Parliament. This may mean the proposals are changed.
How can I get involved?
Cuts to disability benefits are not inevitable. Your voice is important, and it can make a difference. Take action to save our lifeline.
NEW: In person consultation events (across Great Britain):
NEW: Virtual events (across the UK)
To share your views on specific parts of the consultation, we are running 6 additional virtual events, on the following chapters:
Previous comments on the proposed changes can be found here: The Green Paper Discussion and Green Paper Discussion (from 24th March, 2025)
The full link to the Government page is: Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper - GOV.UK
