Disability Benefit Cuts - Take action before July 9th.
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He's not fit for his position, many of them aren't. I can't decide if they have no understanding of reality or they do and just don't care one bit about it.
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Hi @FeistyPigeon - you can also see a transcript of Tuesday's debate here:
Fairly early on Liz Kendall commented following a question from Esther McVey. Liz Kendall said,
'…… reviewing the assessment as a whole is a major undertaking that will take time to get right, especially if we co-produce it properly. It will be for those involved in the review to determine the precise timetable, but we are absolutely committed to moving quickly and completing the review by next autumn. I assure the House that any changes following the Timms review will be implemented as soon as is practically possible via primary or secondary legislation. Once we have implemented changes from the review, any existing PIP claimant can ask for a reassessment.'
But, as you say, Timms later on simply didn't answer John McDonnell in a similar vein, as he said,
'[John McDonnell's] question was about whether the outcome of the review will be implemented in primary or secondary legislation. That depends on the outcome of the review and the form of the assessment we take forward. We will come back to that when we have concluded the review.'
As you mention, Barry Gardiner also questioned this saying,
When [Timms] is talking about whether measures will be put in primary legislation, he must understand that Members will not be able to amend things if they are not in primary legislation. That is a key concern when we do not know the outcome of the review.'
To which Timms replied,
'My answer to my hon. Friend is the one I gave earlier: we need to await the outcome of the review and the assessment that it develops to determine whether it will be implemented in primary or secondary legislation.'
Timms isn't sharing his hymn sheet with Liz Kendall!
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Thank you for your explanation in the other thread @Passerby - I'd read that 'substantial risk' was a non functional disorder in the WCA handbook, tho some of the examples didn't quite make sense to me. Your explanation however made much more sense the moment you highlighted that 'the level of function will always meet LCWRA.' I think the penny dropped then!
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Touché!
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The SCC is a stratagem designed to fool the public to get their validation for the government's detrimental welfare cuts, by saying to them, "See, we're not just cutting benefits, we're also offering a first class treatment to people with severe and lifelong conditions by exempting them from any further reassessments and even paying them a premium", which is in fact the same health element that people in the Support Group/LCWRA are currently receiving. The public think the so-called severe premium payment is a new benefit for such people, when it's not in reality.
It's not designed to help people with severe health conditions. Otherwise, they wouldn't have made the criteria so tough that one has to really be in a condition where death is preferable due to their health condition in order to meet such criteria and pass them.
I think the Tories' SCC was rather reasonable compared to this one.
Their whole proposal is driven by their abstract desire to cut benefits to as many people as they can. They didn't even hide this, as they had announced how much they would have saved not from anything but benefit cuts.
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I'm not sure , but earliest will be April 2028 that the WCA will be abolished .... and from what I read on work and benefits that will be for new claims , existing claims shouldn't be no earlier than back end of 2029 and that will be a slow transition , so there's a good chance alot of us won't transition from the scrapped WCA to the new pip criteria assessment until around sometime in 2030 🤷 there will be a new government in by then , I'm not going to worry myself silly for 5 years I know that
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But if they do change scc to include fluctuating conditions isn’t that an improvement? It seems like it will be actual rules rather than what we have now that’s up to the discretion of assessors. My GP said they don’t have anyone who’s currently on the light touch awards. Hopefully it be be implemented that fluctuating conditions are included 🤞
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Do you/can you use AI sites like ChatGPT or Claude? You can paste the whole email your got from your MP into this and ask it to summerise the main points or explain it more simply. I use it a lot for things like this
You can find either on Google, go to the site and in the window ask it to summerise/explain the email and paste the email in (hopefully this makes sense)
It's quick and a lot easier than waiting for an MP to respond. Mine has only just replied to my email after I mailed her in May (I think). Hopefully this helps.
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oh thank you I hadn’t thought of this! I will do this, thank you
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As latest yougov poll shows done June 26, Liebour are losing a lot of their support:
YouGov's MRP a year since the 2024 election shows a hung parliament with Reform UK as the largest party
Now, thinking specifically about your own constituency, if there were a general election held tomorrow and these were the parties standing, which party would you vote for?
Estimated seat projections based on modelled responses from 11,500 voters in Great BritainReform UK: 271 (+266)
Labour: 178 (-233)
Lib Dems: 81 (+9)
Conservatives: 46 (-75)
SNP: 38 (+29)
Greens: 7 (+3)
Plaid Cymru: 7 (+3)
Others: 3 (-2)
Will they change their approach towards the ill and disabled?
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I don't think that Farage recognises the existence of disabled people - I really fear that it will start all over again….
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Farage keeps dodging the issue, and no journalist has asked him about it during any of his latest party campaigns.
In any case, let’s continue to apply pressure on our current MPs.
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I think you're mixing up two things: Transitioning to the "Health element of the UC" and getting assessed under the upcoming new PIP criteria.
Nowhere has it been said that existing claimants need to be reassessed under the new PIP criteria in order to transition to the "Health element of the UC".
By the time the WCA is scrapped, not a single claimant would be left on the ESA, as the ESA to UC migration would be complete and all former claimants in the Support Group would be moved into the LCWRA of the UC.
Once the WCA is abolished, I believe the name LCWRA will also be scrapped and replaced with the "Health element of the UC" and all claimants in the LCWRA will see their LCWRA renamed on their journal and they will carry on with their entitlement until they're reassessed with the new criteria and their award changes. The sickness benefit is an ongoing award that doesn't change with a name change; it can only change through reassessment or tribunals.
Again, once the WCA is scrapped, the ESA, Support Group, LCW, LCWRA, etc., will also be scrapped. Therefore, you won't be able to keep staying on something that's scrapped until you're reassessed under the upcoming PIP criteria!
In fact, to me, this process will just be a matter of rebranding rather than a migration or transition, as by the time the WCA is scrapped all the claimants in question will already be on the UC and will not be migrating from another system, such as ESA.
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Sure, it's an improvement, but I don't think this would affect the discretionary powers of the health professionals. To me, the only way to change this and make the assessment fairer is to put in place a system in which claimants are assessed not by an assessor but a panel of health professionals which include GPs and psychiatrists.
In France, sickness and/or disability benefits and asylum are both decided on by a panel of professionals, rather than one person, who can decide at their whim, rather than based on logic and careful professional consideration
I'm sure if three different assessors were asked to assess a same person, each of them would have provided a different outcome.
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Maybe I worded it wrong in regards to transition ....
As I understood it ....
Im on CBESA and LCWRA but no pip ....
I thought that we would be reasessed under the present WCA anytime up until it's abolishment in April 2028
( they start again fully in April 2026 , so I'm expecting one before April 2028 )
If I pass , which I hopefully will I will stay on cbesa and lcwra for the next two years ....
This will take me past April 2028 when the WCA is abolished and also everything that goes will it , Inc , ESA , lcwra , lcw etc
So yes our award won't end without another reassessment just because of the abolishment of everything , so our journel could well change from lcwra to health element automatically as thats what it would have changed to by then
From April 2028 I've read that it will be new claims that will be getting assessed with the new pip criteria first ( minus the 4 point rule thank god 🙏 until the Timms review we won't know exactly what the criteria will be )
And then existing claims after , this could start earliest, back end of 2029 .....
Then we get assessed with the new pip criteria
There are still hefty backlogs for the WCA , so if they start April 2026 you could still very easily be waiting a while for one .... I'm 6 years since having one and 4 years overdue in November and I've seen alot of people that are 8 years since having one and 6 years overdue sooooo 🤷
Im hoping to get one around mid 2027 if I pass that would take me to mid 2029 before having the next reassessment under new pip criteria
@Passerby I've just thought 🤔
When they say new claims will be the first to be reassessed in April 2028 under the new criteria , would that mean us ? .... As technically we would be new claimants to the pip .... When they say existing claiment earliest 2029 would that mean existing claimants of PIP ?
even so it will take a long time to do so so you would have to be pretty unlucky to be one of the first
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Email your MP with this email template to convince them to vote against the SCC criteria.
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Delete
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Letter template to be sent to MPs if you have the energy:
Subject: End Discriminatory Universal Credit Cuts to Disabled People
Dear [MP’s Name],
The Severe Conditions Criteria (SCC) in the Universal Credit and PIP Bill is a crisis, slashing vital support for hundreds of thousands of disabled people. I urge your urgent action before the Third Reading on 9 July 2025.
From April 2026, the SCC will cut the health element for new claimants from £97 per week to just £50—a loss of £2,444 a year. Only those with a terminal illness (under 12 months to live) or severe, lifelong conditions will keep the higher rate, protected from inflation. Existing claimants have transitional protection, but new claimants face a cruel divide.
The SCC’s discriminatory rules will exclude eight in nine current support group claimants, despite disabling barriers.
To qualify for the full £97-a-week health element, claimants must:
- Meet the Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity criteria, proving significant disability.
- Have a constant, unchanging impairment, excluding fluctuating conditions like Parkinson’s (tremors, stiffness), MS (unpredictable fatigue, mobility issues), or bipolar disorder (severe mood swings).
- Have a lifelong condition with no recovery prospect, ruling out severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia or depression, as clinicians avoid “lifelong” labels to preserve hope or due to uncertain outcomes.
- Hold an NHS diagnosis, dismissing private or international diagnoses despite 6–8 year NHS wait lists for autism and ADHD. This forces poorer communities to pay £1,000–£2,000 for private care out of desperation.
These heartless rules will push 150,000 more claimants into poverty by 2030, with relentless reassessments adding stress. They betray neurodivergent people, who are stuck on waiting lists or priced out.
I urge you to:
✅ Vote NO on this discriminatory bill.
✅ Support the following amendments (all tabled on 4 July 2025):
- Amendment 14 (Burgon et al.): Scrap SCC cuts entirely.
- Amendment 2(a) (Burgon et al.): Retain £423.27 per month for all claimants.
- Amendments 32 and 35 (Blackman): Include fluctuating conditions like MS and Parkinson’s.
- Amendments 33 and 34 (Blackman): Allow private and international diagnoses.
- New Clause NC4 (Creasy et al.): Ensure compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
No one deserves abandonment. Please confirm your stance.
Yours sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Address + Postcode]
[Your Email]0 -
Met with my MP today for a post vote discussion and I raised my concerns about Stephen Timms leading the PIP review. Given his strong support for the government’s benefit changes, including the now dropped 4 point rule, I do not believe he can be impartial.
I believe the review should be led by someone fully independent, who will genuinely listen to disabled people and ensure we and our advocacy groups have equal decision making power, not just a token voice.
Governments can appoint independent reviewers. The Keep Britain Working Review, led by Sir Charlie Mayfield, is a good example. He was brought in from outside government to examine disability and economic inactivity, with a remit to make independent recommendations, not simply endorse existing policy.
My MP will speak to colleagues and update us in next week’s Teams meeting. Has anyone else raised this with their MP, or am I the only one who feels Timms’s role is seriously compromised?2 -
"When they say new claims will be the first to be reassessed in April 2028 under the new criteria , would that mean us ? .... As technically we would be new claimants to the pip .... When they say existing claiment earliest 2029 would that mean existing claimants of PIP ?"
No, we wouldn't be new claimants. Neither would we be new claimants to the PIP. In fact, we wouldn't be claimants to the PIP at all, as we wouldn't be claiming or applying for PIP. We would simply be reassessed with the PIP criteria, which would be the only assessment method out there by then.
When they say (I believe you're referring to B&W) existing claimants would be reassessed earliest 2029, they mean current claimants in the support group/LCWRA and not claimants of PIP. Claimants of PIP , both new and existing ones, would start to be assessed or reassessed under the new PIP criteria as soon that welfare cuts freak called S. Timms comes up with his reviewed criteria and they come into force.
However, things will be clearer in Autumn, as a Green Paper outlining proposals to abolish the WCA and replace it with the PIP assessment for sickness benefits will be published in Autumn. Then, a subsequent White Paper will be published also in Autumn to set out full proposals following the Green Paper consultation.
I believe this time around, they'll consult MPs, including those in the left wing of the party, as Reeves said yesterday that the lesson learned was to engage with both MPs and the public, which we do not include, I guess.
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