New Green Paper Discussion - now includes accessible formats and consultation event sign up links!

Holly_Scope
Holly_Scope Posts: 1,951 Scope Online Community Coordinator
edited April 8 in Current affairs

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

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Comments

  • Danny123
    Danny123 Online Community Member Posts: 19 Connected

    I'm so scared , what is going to happen 😫🤦....

    I'm not in pip , I voulentarlly moved from CBESA with an IR top up surport group over to UC in 2022 .... I now receive either CBESA / NSESA with LCWRA....

    From what I can tell other than probably having to pass a reassessment for what I have now , these changes shouldn't affect me till 2028 when the wca gets abolished and pip assessment takes over , I'll just have to take my chances from there .... And that's best case scenario ....

    How can they think this is going to work , thier just throwing people to the lions

  • Catherine21
    Catherine21 Posts: 5,366 Championing

    Thankyou so if the government not consulting on pip and wca what's all this for then ? To change thier minds it's all pants for 18 to 22 year olds to everyone surly it's discrimination

  • Catherine21
    Catherine21 Posts: 5,366 Championing

    That Tory leader kemi said she will help labour push through the reforms on morning tv on Sunday away so we got to June to see ? I'm going to take a chill pill my face lips hand keeps tingling panic attacks the lot labour not worth my mental health

  • secretsquirrel1
    secretsquirrel1 Online Community Member Posts: 751 Championing

    Can someone from scope please confirm or deny information I just heard from YouTube The justice journals . On it Ali who is ex DWP said in the last 12 hours DWP has stated the 4 point rule also covers PIP whereas before the 4 point rule was for LCWRA. This makes no sense to me as it will be 1 assessment and if you fail you won’t get either pip or the new health element. You can’t get one without the other . Please can have a look into this as this seems more conflicting information, thank you . Also although I’m terrified like everyone else I cannot see how they would be allowed to get away with basically scrapping all disability and sickness benefits legally. I don’t doubt this will pass in parliament but surely it’s not legal and goes against our human rights .

  • Stellar
    Stellar Online Community Member Posts: 270 Empowering

    There's a notable lack of in-person events and protests on this list (sans Scope's parliament event)? Responding to consultations and parliamentary engagement is a waste of time. For in person action, groups carrying out include Crips Against Cuts and DPAC.

    You cannot reason with politicians who proudly enable abuse and democide wth polite letters. You can only do so with effective, political campaigning designed to force them to back down. Not asking politely.

    Case in point that at first glance, is unrelated to disability rights, but in reality speaks volumes about the kind of people we're dealing with. Here's a recent expose relating to Wes Streeting's complicity in allowing pro-child abuse / trans conversion therapy advocacy group Bayswater. Said group is directly influencing government policies regarding trans kids (which much like disabled people, is also democidal), and also proudly allows abusive parents to advocate putting “extra hot chili sauce” in the eye makeup of their trans kids (and putting their kids at risk of becoming disabled, and hence at risk of dying at the hands of the DWP later on). Worth reading the full thing, because the Red Tories will treat disabled people with exactly the same level of contempt.

  • noonebelieves
    noonebelieves Online Community Member Posts: 630 Championing

    As many of our members have recently raised concerns about the impact of the Green Paper proposals on unpaid carers, I thought I’d share this very useful policy briefing published by Carers UK. It includes some excellent arguments and insights, breaking down relevant sections from the proposals(Apologies if this has already been shared):

    Briefing on Pathways to Work Green Paper:Impact on unpaid carers

  • Holly_Scope
    Holly_Scope Posts: 1,951 Scope Online Community Coordinator

    Hi @Stellar good shout! I'd missed these initially but will add the in person events shortly. Thanks for raising this. ☺️

  • sarah_lea12
    sarah_lea12 Online Community Member Posts: 235 Empowering

    Just not feeling well right now , waiting for re-assessment , if i lose pip my husband loses carers and under the new plans i lose lcwra too , leaving £600 a month to live on and our mortgage is £777 a month , smi pays some of the interest . we are registered with the local council where you bid for a property , feeling like just handing keys back to mortgage and wait to be evicted , beggars can't be choosers but I am terrified of being re-housed in a flat because i am not good around people . and no garden would really make me ill as i have agoraphobia and even a small garden would get me some fresh air .

    This Labour government have no hearts , they have swinging bricks , and they just don't care .

    I'm looking at touring caravans on ebay so could live in that and try to buy a generator so I can use my cpap at night .

    It's like those with everything MP's (who just gave themselves a pay rise) relish is seeing us become ill and happy at the thought of us being homeless. They are pure evil and to think that people were elated that they got voted in , it soon changed when their evil plan was let out .

    God have mercy on us .

  • noonebelieves
    noonebelieves Online Community Member Posts: 630 Championing
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1014291#Comment_1014291

    Hi @Stellar, thank you for your powerful and passionate post. I’ve read it in full, and I deeply respect your commitment to holding the government to account and the stark realities you’ve highlighted, particularly around the dangers of systemic abuse and “democide”faced by disabled and marginalised communities.

    I wanted to respond in particular to the point you made:

    “Responding to consultations and parliamentary engagement is a waste of time. For in-person action, groups carrying out include Crips Against Cuts and DPAC.”

    While I fully agree with your rationale for wanting our voices to be amplified through powerful grassroots organisations such as DPAC and Crips Against Cuts, I’d like to share why I believe that individual engagement with the consultation process itself is equally crucial -not as a substitute, but as a complementary strategy in the fight against these devastating proposals.

    I completely understand the frustration-the system often feels designed to wear us down, confuse us, and push us into silence. The deliberately wordy and overwhelming Green Paper and the rushed timelines seem to serve that exact purpose. But it is precisely because the government is banking on our silence and disengagement that I believe it is vital we show up in every way possible — including responding to the consultation directly, with our own words, lived experiences, and objections.

    Here’s why I say this:

     If we don’t respond, I fear that the government will be able to say there was “no significant opposition,” allowing them to push these measures forward unchallenged through the next legislative stages.

     Every voice that responds is a legal record. It cannot be erased. It becomes part of the public consultation response, which must be referenced in the impact assessments and presented in Parliament. It is our chance to say “we do not consent,” and that cannot be ignored.

     Personal narratives are very powerful. When we explain how these cuts will devastate our lives, our families, and our futures, we are humanising the debate giving names and faces to policies that too often treat us as statistics.

    That said, I am not dismissing direct action or advocacy. On the contrary,I strongly believe both are needed. We must back and support every group prepared to campaign on our behalf: Scope, Benefits & Work, DPAC, MIND, Crips Against Cuts, and others. But let’s make it a two-pronged approach:

    1.Individual direct responses to the government’s consultation via their portal or email by the June deadline.

    2.Collective and coordinated action -through protests, campaigns, petitions, and organisational efforts that amplify our voices like thunder in all directions.

    To stay silent (or)even just to focus on external protest while ignoring the official process — risks handing over a powerful tool to the government unchallenged. We cannot allow them to claim “people didn’t object.”

    This is not just about protecting ourselves, but about defending the legal and human rights of future generations- our children, our families, and all those who are still silent, struggling, or unaware of what’s coming. I truly fear that inaction will only accelerate what you’ve rightly called a democidal agenda.

    Let’s fight this on all fronts -individually, collectively, legally, and visibly.

    With deepest respect

  • Girl_No1
    Girl_No1 Online Community Member Posts: 282 Empowering

    There must be hundreds of thousands of us who have become too ill to work in our late 50s/early 60s. We will mostly be in the NS-ESA cohort.

    I suspect they very much know the impact extended retirement has had on number of older people becoming claimants of disability benefits.

    My logic leads me to believe they seem to be very publicly scapegoating young claimants whilst also "privately" attacking those who, under previous regulations, would not be claiming disability benefits but be receiving a state pension.

    Speaking from personal experience, had I been able to receive my state pension at 60, I would have stopped working when I did (58) and lived off my savings until my state pension was payable.

    Has anyone seen any analysis of the direct correlation between the extended 'working age' criteria to the increase in claimants in their late 50s as compared stats prior to pension age increases?

  • Catherine21
    Catherine21 Posts: 5,366 Championing

    Will be in a teams meeting for two hours the problem is I can't stand to be on camera and they said they have to seem if I'm ok so I will see how long I can do sounds so silly but it traumatic for me seeing my reflection so triggering

  • noonebelieves
    noonebelieves Online Community Member Posts: 630 Championing
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1014370#Comment_1014370

    Hi @Catherine21,

    I completely hear you. I wouldn’t dream of turning my camera or microphone on either! I plan to stay muted with my camera off for the entire session. For me, the most important thing is simply to listen carefully to what they’re proposing. That way, we can truthfully say, “We heard you but your proposals make no sense and clearly prioritise cost-cutting over meaningful reform or the wellbeing of disabled people and then we state our personal impact and informed objection why we do not want the proposals to move forward .”

    That gives us a strong foundation to push back. That’s exactly how I plan to approach it.

    Then, just as @Stellar rightly pointed out, we can join forces with all the disability rights organisations and use every platform available to us. If we all take this approach, we’ll create a powerful collective voice that will make it incredibly difficult for them to push these proposals through Parliament. The consultation results will become the first piece of evidence showing public opposition-followed by pressure from disability charities, rights groups, and condition-specific organisations.

    Our voices are so powerful than we think and we’re even stronger together.

  • Holly_Scope
    Holly_Scope Posts: 1,951 Scope Online Community Coordinator

    Sorry for the delay folks, been a busy day. I've now added both the virtual and in person event details (including all links for tickets) to the initial discussion.

    Have a lovely evening all.

    Holly

  • Catherine21
    Catherine21 Posts: 5,366 Championing
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1014381#Comment_1014381

    Oh no this was for teams managing emotions for two hours I tried everything to join wouldn't let me I tell them what emotions I have now rage waiting all day arrrghh how are you feeling x

  • noonebelieves
    noonebelieves Online Community Member Posts: 630 Championing
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1014260#Comment_1014260
    • Deceptively , they have proposed abolishing WCA and is not being consulted on either
    • Pip changes are being consulted on as in Chapter 2: Reforming the structure of the health and disability benefits system-Question 1 to 5
    • There are also 2 questions on 18-22 yr olds under:

    Delaying payment of the health element of Universal Credit

    11. Should we delay access to the health element of Universal Credit within the reformed system until someone is aged 22?

    Raising the age at which young people start claiming adult disability benefits

    12. Do you think 18 is the right age for young people to start claiming the adult disability benefit, Personal Independence Payment? If not, what age do you think it should be?

    I believe we need to show the government that we are not to be underestimated, and that disabled people cannot and will not be discriminated against or downtrodden.

  • noonebelieves
    noonebelieves Online Community Member Posts: 630 Championing
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1014392#Comment_1014392

    Sorry @Catherine21, I may have misunderstood you-my sincere apologies. Thank you for checking in on me. Although I’m in physical pain from the fall yesterday, the mental drive to keep pushing forward remains relentless.

    Have a great evening 🤗

  • Middleton
    Middleton Online Community Member Posts: 258 Empowering

    If you literally cannot work and are somehow forced to by UC.. how in real-world terms does this work?

  • Martinp
    Martinp Online Community Member Posts: 122 Empowering
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1014405#Comment_1014405

    I know it’s utterly stupid and defies all logic. There will be deaths it’s inevitable.

  • noonebelieves
    noonebelieves Online Community Member Posts: 630 Championing
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1014405#Comment_1014405

    You’re absolutely right to raise that important question, @Middleton -because in real-world terms, it doesn’t work.

    Here’s my view-
    Unless someone meets the 4-point threshold under the PIP mobility or daily living criteria, they won’t qualify for the UC health element under these new proposals. That alone shows how non-inclusive and unrealistic this so-called “reform” is.
    The government’s plan to abolish the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) without even consulting on it and then tighten the PIP criteria while making it the gateway to the UC health element:is nothing short of a cost-cutting exercise. It’s a deeply flawed strategy that will only push many disabled people out of the support they desperately need.
    Forcing someone who genuinely cannot work into work-related activities or stripping them of financial support is discriminatory and dangerous. These changes risk devastating consequences for people already battling severe physical and mental health challenges.
    That’s why I feel so strongly that we must empower each other to respond to this consultation and reject these proposals outright. Our voices matter, and now is the time to make them heard.

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