Green Paper Related Discussions

If these reforms go through I hope at least the severe criteria applies to us and everyone will conditions that won’t improve . They could save money by stopping these reassessments. I was discussing this Friday and yesterday with Chiaried who explained what they think about it . If you’re up to it check out the conversation to see what you think .

I remember at school a friend got stuck down with glandular fever and we visit her as was off for months and she was in a dark room we spent about 20 minutes and her mum said she was tired so we left I remember feeling so so upset for her I left school early so I never knew if she returned

Yeah I agree our conditions are severe and life long with no effective treatment or cure and I have often said that money could be saved by stopping these ridiculous degrading assessments.

I wonder how she is now . First time I got it I didn’t know what it was GP was useless. I had flare ups of bad throat every month for about 6 months. So sore couldn’t even drink water .

Just awful stress doesn't help this has been years I think you same as me since sunak speech 2023 on high alert I try to distract myself reeves doing u turn on nom doms all u turns except this kendell reeves won't have it reeves husband works for dwp says it all really

Hoping the ones who was going to abstain come to the thinking of voting against it or are on the fence I feel he's basically saying you will come and vote this in I can imagine the psychological pressure they are applying it's absolutely sickening I thought tories changed the way of politics but this one has brought so many back alley under handed ways to push his agenda I still can't get my head around the legal sick of it all I emailed good law project 5 times no response where as I'm the beginning of all this they did respond I think all we can do is hope get the proper support from gps I'm coming of sleeping tablets wrong time to do me thinks I'm so in awe of people who get about thier daily life's this has floored me but still keep emailing glad to see my mp didn't vote for assisted dying bill wes street whatever his name is said NHS didn't have funds for it which is good but why go through all the voting the mind boggles

And he said he wanted to lead a government with transparency 😂 . Worst PM ever and they know it

Anxiety and depression can be signs of other mental health problems people who can advocate fro themselves are lucky like myself I have no problem expressing myself had a friend god rest his soul he suffered so deeply he couldn't open up never seen doctor just self medicated so his medical history very spars I'm convinced he had bpd and definitely adhd with crushing depression anxiety alcohol was his medicine he passed away age 50 so so sad he was a kind soul only person he hurt was himself I tried to help as his partner did as well so alot of people go under the radar and suffer badly

Labour’s cruel severe conditions criteria

 Published: 22 June 2025

labour’s cruel “severe conditions criteria” (SCC) plan is not designed to protect seriously ill claimants as the government claims, it is intended to save money at their expense.  Because tens of thousands of claimants too ill to ever work again will be forced to live for years on half the additional payment that current claimants receive.

The SCC are part of the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill and are intended to be a concession to Labour MPs concerned about the effect of the cuts on disabled claimants.

From April 2026, new claimants who meet the SCC will not have to face future reassessments for health element of universal credit, though they will still be reassessed for personal independence payment (PIP).

At the same time, Labour is almost halving the limited capability for work-related activity (LCWRA) element payable to new claimants, but claimants with LCWRA who also meet the SCC will get the full amount.

The SCC qualifying conditions

The current qualifying conditions for LCWRA require one of a number of descriptors to apply to the claimant “for the majority of the time”.  For example: 

• Cannot pick up and move a 0.5 litre carton full of liquid.
• Cannot press a button(such as a telephone keypad) with either hand or; cannot turn the pages of a book with either hand.
• Cannot cope with any change, due to cognitive impairment or mental disorder, to the extent that day-to-day life cannot be managed.

The severe conditions criteria require claimants to meet the same criteria “constantly”.

Constantly is defined in the Bill as “at all times” or “on all occasions on which the claimant undertakes or attempts to undertake the activity”.

However, many degenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis and muscular dystrophy follow a slow path of decreasing ability, with periods of remission.  So, most days you may be unable to turn the pages of a book, but you may have occasional good days when you can do so.

Or your manual dexterity may be better first thing in the morning but get rapidly worse as fatigue sets in.

At the moment, a claimant in these circumstances would get the full LCWRA amount, which from April 2026 will be £423.27 a month, because they meet the descriptor for the majority of the time.

However from April 2026, new LCWRA claimants in the same position will only get around half this amount, £217.26, because they do not meet the descriptor constantly.

But the same claimant will never improve, their condition will only get worse.  So, if they are already unable to work because of a degenerative disease, they will never be able to work again in the future. 

Under Labour’s new rules, however, they will have to exist on half the LCWRA element, possibly for years after there is no chance of their ever being able to work again, until they can show that they are constantly unable to carry out an activity, rather than just for the majority of the time.

So, far from guaranteeing  that people who will never work again are supported, the SCC guarantees that they will live  on a severely reduced income for years, until their degenerative disease enters its most debilitating stage.

For some conditions, including some severe mental illnesses, there may never be a time when the claimant is certain not to have periods of remission, so they may never get the full LCWRA award.

How long will protection last?

The SCC are claimed to protect claimants from ever being assessed again. But, as noted above, people who meet the SCC can still be reassessed for PIP.

From 2028, Labour are planning to abolish the work capability assessment (WCA) and make receipt of PIP daily living the gateway for the UC health element.  But they have repeatedly failed to explain what will happen to someone who meets the SCC if they lose their PIP daily living award on review.

Will they still be able to claim UC health even though they no longer meet the basic qualifying conditions?  If not, then the SCC guarantee may only last a few years, rather than a lifetime as Labour claims.

Peace of mind

In unveiling the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill, Liz Kendall claimed that it “represents a new social contract and marks the moment we take the road of compassion, opportunity and dignity.  This will give people peace of mind, while also fixing our broken social security system so it supports those who can work to do so while protecting those who cannot. . .”

In reality, the Bill simply seeks every opportunity to take more money from disabled claimants, whilst telling them it really is in their own best interests.