What has changed after last night's UC and PIP bill vote?

Topcat71

Was there anything positive about last night’s result?

This depends on your point of view. 

The government got their bill through its first vote and that is undoubtedly a bad thing. 

New disabled claimants of UC from April 2026 will be hit very hard by the cut and freeze to the health element.

And the Timms review could still attempt to impose severe cuts on PIP.

But, disabled people and disability groups took on a government with a majority of 165 and an utter contempt for disabled claimants.  They were forced to fight against a bill that was only published on 18 June and is being rushed through parliament at breakneck speed to try to prevent opposition.

And yet, with everything in their favour, the government have been forced into a series of humiliating concessions.  The centrepiece of the bill, the PIP 4-point rule is gone and with it, almost all the £5 billion in savings that Labour planned to make on the backs of disabled claimants.

In fact, there have been so many changes to the bill that even the name is wrong now – it has nothing to do with personal independence payment anymore.  

So yes, in our view there are some very positive things about last night.  But, unfortunately, that doesn’t mean the fight doesn’t go on and on . . . starting with the third reading of the bill on 9 July.

Ross1975

For me nothing much has changed, I'm on LCWRA and not PIP (although I'm going to apply for PIP), the stress and worry about being reassessed after April next year is still there, especially if I don't manage to be claiming PIP by then, if I get classed as fit for work which there is a decent chance I will since this is what happens most of the time, and if I fail the MR and tribunal I'm done for. Even if I managed to make another claim for LCWRA and was successful I'd be treated as a new claimant and would lose a lot of money each month, so if I've not been successful with PIP it would mean I'd not be able to afford to run my car any more and become completely housebound which I would not be able to cope with at all and I'd become suicidal.

The only thing that has changed for me is that when LCWRA is rolled into PIP PIP wont be even harder for me to get because of the 4 point rule, unless they make it harder when they change the descriptors. I may not even survive long enough to see this happen anyway.

Topcat71

And the Timms review could still attempt to impose severe cuts on PIP.

But, disabled people and disability groups took on a government with a majority of 165 and an utter contempt for disabled claimants.  They were forced to fight against a bill that was only published on 18 June and is being rushed through parliament at breakneck speed to try to prevent opposition.

And yet, with everything in their favour, the government have been forced into a series of humiliating concessions.  The centrepiece of the bill, the PIP 4-point rule is gone and with it, almost all the £5 billion in savings that Labour planned to make on the backs of disabled claimants.

In fact, there have been so many changes to the bill that even the name is wrong now – it has nothing to do with personal independence payment anymore.  

So yes, in our view there are some very positive things about last night.  But, unfortunately, that doesn’t mean the fight doesn’t go on and on . . . starting with the third reading of the bill on 9 July.

Siwheels73

Does this mean that I will get hit with the harder time when the DWP computers finally send me the letter to move from DLA to PIP?