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Are PIP, DLA and AA to be means-tested?

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Benefits and Work has started receiving emails from readers concerned that disability benefits including PIP, DLA and AA are about to be means-tested.

Although there have been rumours about this for several weeks, the issue gained further prominence due to a question put by shadow DWP secretary of state Jonathan Ashworth to the current DWP secretary of state, Mel Stride on Monday.

Ashworth asked “Can he give a categorical assurance that in the Autumn statement he will rule out means-testing personal independence payment, carers allowance attendance allowance and disability living allowance for children.”

Stride’s response was to avoid answering the question: “The right honourable gentleman is inviting me to break with what has been a very, very long-standing and quite correct convention that when it comes to a major fiscal event, ministers simply do not provide a running commentary as to what may or may not be in that fiscal event.”

In reality that ‘long-standing’ convention was broken as recently as 19 October when Liz Truss told the House at PMQs that the triple lock for pensioners would be maintained.  However, in the same response on Monday, Stride also refused to confirm that the triple lock remained safe under Sunak.

So, at the moment, Benefits and Work can offer no reassurance to readers about what the current administration will or won’t do on 17 November.  All we can suggest is that people don’t assume the worst and instead wait for concrete information.

UPDATE 06/11
Writing about the conservatives budget plans in the Guardian on Sunday, political commentator Andrew Rawnsley quoted a senior Tory as saying “They are flying a lot of kites to see which ones attract most fire.”  

Readers who have strong feelings about the possibility of disability benefits being means-tested might want to contact their MP as a matter of urgency - especially if they are a conservative - to make sure that they are aware that this is a kite which is likely to attract a great deal of fire.

If you do email your MP, please considering posting a comment below and letting us know what you told them. It may encourage other readers to do the same.

UPDATE 15/11
A DWP minister has now said that PIP and DLA will not be means-tested

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  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    scouse
    · 2 years ago
    The more people contact their MP's the better, get friends and family members as well. Get them to tell their MP how much it will affect your life. Very disapointed with labour today, nothing at question time and
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Steph
    · 2 years ago
    have written to bill everitt milton keynes north mp
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Dave scholefield
    · 2 years ago
    I have just sent this email to my local mp Tom pursglove. I will let you know if I receive any response. 

    Dear Tom Pursglove 

    It has been reported in the press recently, that this government, your party, may be about to be means testing disability benefits in the Autumn statement on the 17th November 2022.

    I can not understand how any Government, MP or party member, could possibly condone such actions being taken against some of the most vulnerable members in our society .

    These benefits are hard enough to obtain, highly scrutinised and cause untold distress during the initial claiming process and reviews .

    The amounts that are awarded very rarely cover the additional expense of the disability the person is suffering from.  The thought of having the amount reduced or taken away, is causing massive distress to people who are already suffering.

    If anything, the amounts were looking to be increased in-line with inflation next April, not cut !!!

    In the words of our current Prime Minister, I quote, 
    “This will be a compassionate government, and one which would protect the most vulnerable”

    Speaking as someone who is disabled and has many health issues, the thought of this proposal makes me question the above statement made by your PM.

    I would hope that you would support the vulnerable and weak in our society Tom, and oppose any such proposals to the already hard fought for benefits.

    Kind regards

    Dave Scholefield





  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Tony Ling
    · 2 years ago
    I have written to my MP: as follows:


    The shadow DWP secretary of state Jonathan Ashworth asked his opposite number, Mel Stride last Monday:


    “Can he give a categorical assurance that in the Autumn statement he will rule out means-testing personal independence payment, carers allowance attendance allowance and disability living allowance for children.”

    Mr Stride gave no such reassurance.

    As a recipient of the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) who lives in a rural area, I find this most worrying. I a pensioner who is wheelchair dependent due to paraplegia following a spinal injury. Loss of either element PIP would leave me in a vulnerable position, unable to provide basic care or transport. This means I would be unable to attend hospital, dental, chiropody etc appointments. Indeed given that my General Practitioner's practice is in a village five miles distant, I would be unable to access even Primary Care.

    My daughter-in-Law provides for my care needs since my wife died three years ago, which she can only afford to do because she claims Carers Allowance.

    Even if the governenment were to honour it's manifesto commitment regarding the Pension Triple Lock, this would not compensate for the reduction in income should I lose my PIP and Carers Allowance entitlement.

    I would in effect become a prisoner within my own home with a deteriorating health due to inability to access basic health resources.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Arthur
    · 2 years ago
    Any person who is dependent on benefits to survive should take this latest threat seriously.
    Changing eligibility rules to reduce awards was done by this government previously with ESA.
    Benefits always come under scrutiny when the government says it needs to make savings.
    It is a sad fact that benefit claimants receive little public or political support making us easy targets.
    Means testing is extremely vicious when applied. It is not just savings but income a partner receives that is tested.


  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Will - Lincolnshire'
    · 2 years ago
    Thanks for your MP link.  I checked up on my MP as I didn't vote for him. His pattern of voting makes me wonder if I would be wasting my time contacting him.  He consistently votes for reduction in welfare benefits; does not believe in equality; voted for mass surveillance and votes for all laws protecting the rich and reducing their taxes.
     
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    lewis colcombe
    · 2 years ago
    i am about to email my mp Beth winter ,in rhondda cynon taf to outline my concerns .

    i will let you know what my mp reply is .
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Dawn Richardson
    · 2 years ago
    I have mailed 
    Royston.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Janey
    · 2 years ago
    Email sent to my Tory MP, Neil O’Brien,

    Another email, not a form one this time. I read with great anxiety a suggestion that Mr. Mel Stride MP is considering making benefits such as PIP and Carers’ Allowance means tested. Please reassure me that this is not true. Please address my concerns to the DWP Secretary of State and the ministers involved at the earliest opportunity.

    Thank you. 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Angela Gooden
    · 2 years ago
    I wrote to Tim Loughton and this was his reply:

    thank you for your email. I am not sure where you got this from but what the Secretary of State for DWP actually said on Monday was that he cannot make any announcements one way or the other ahead of the Autumn Statement which is on Thursday 17th. He would be breaking the confidence of the Chancellor if he had given any other answer so may I suggest you ignore any scaremongering from the Labour Party until the facts are known in just 8 days’ time.
    Regards

    Regards

    Tim Loughton MP
    Member of Parliament for East Worthing & Shoreham


  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Sue O'Riordan
    · 2 years ago
    I have emailed my MP, Miriam Cates as below. I will post an update if I receive anything beyond a scant acknowledgement.

    I am writing because of the possible change to make PIP, AA and Attendance Allowance means tested. This proposal horrifies me. I have had a chronic illness, MS, for over 25 years but was awarded PIP only in 2020. The application process is awful, not simply because of the barriers that are built into it but also because of the emotional trauma involved in contemplating the extent of my disability and the losses I have incurred because of it. To add a means test to this is truly dreadful.

    The rational behind these awards being NON-means tested is that a disability comes with additional expenses that the non-disabled do not have. My PIP award has been helpful and made a difference. I suffer particularly with the cold and the award means I will not panic this winter about using the level of heating to avoid being in constant pain. I am not struggling to afford food at present and own my own home (as a result of careful saving and financial management when I was able to work). It would be very unfair if this disallowed my need for PIP. There are many in my position and worse claiming these benefits. A disability should not automatically condemn people and their families to poverty.

    Please do not support this cruel measure against disability benefits.

    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Sandra Gardiner
      · 2 years ago
      @Sue O'Riordan Sue
      I empathise with you totally, having had my career curtailed at 50 following two strokes. I also have psoriatic arthritis and Fibromyalgia.
      Like yourself I own my house, the PIP enables me to pay for a private carer - my husband was my carer however he died unexpectedly (and needlessly) in 2020 - who takes me to my hospital appointments and physiotherapy etc.
      I am also a WASPI so I have another 3 years to wait until I will receive a State Pension, as my ability to work ended at 50!
      Life is hard, we didn’t choose these disabilities!

      I hope you keep well .
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Spence
    · 2 years ago
    This is my letter to my MP

    Dear Mr Stride,

    I have been told that you tend not to bother reading emails from constituents but I appeal to your conscience and consider what I have written below.

    As a long standing Conservative voter, I am writing to you with much concern.
    I have heard rumours that the Conservative government (and you in particular) are considering introducing means testing for disability benefits.

    I, along with huge numbers of the public am completely appalled and shocked that it is even being considered. People on disability benefits are not there by choice and would rather not be claiming the benefits in the first place. Many wait for months or years to submit claims due to embarrassment and shame! These people are not the ‘work shy’ section of the community. Many have contributed to the system for many years before being struck down with illness / disability. Many have limped on in their jobs for months and made their conditions worse purely due to the shame in claiming disability benefits.

    Many people on PIP have a partner who continues to work to plug the income gap which then takes them just over the threshold for Income support and tax credits. These people are struggling to make ends meet particulary when these sort of people need warm homes 24hrs a day to stop muscle spasms and to reduce pain levels.

    If this goes ahead, I predict that the working partners of those people on disability benefits will decide that it is pointless working all hours to plug the gap in their family income because they will be penalised for doing so. They will already be unable to claim income support or tax credits because they are over the threshold. Droves of people will quit their jobs and realise they are better off claiming more benefits!

    This is absolutely absurd and will result in a net loss to the government of billions of pounds!

    The government is already seen by a huge number of voters as the privileged public school club who only feather their own nests and those of their friends. If you implement the above means testing, this will solidify those feelings in huge numbers of voters.

    At a time when you won’t even consider windfall taxes for the energy companies who are making huge profits without doing anything different, the suggestion to penalise people with disabilities is immoral and sickening.

    If this happens, I for one will never vote Tory again and I know many others who will do the same.

    Tory supporters are at their wits end with this government and many on the verge of changing allegiance. I am certain if this goes through, it will be the end of Conservatism in the UK!

    I would be grateful for a reply or perhaps an invitation to discuss this face to face with you.

    Yours sincerely 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    John
    · 2 years ago
    Hi,

    I sent the following letter to my local MP. 

    All, please write to your MPs too! 

    Dear........ 

    I have been sent an e-mail today highlighting that a question was asked of the DWP secretary that PIP and other disability benefits are to be means-tested ? The minister gave no reassurance to this question.

    I am registered disabled, as I suffer from heart failure, and I am also partially sighted. These health conditions forced my early retirement, through disability, at the age of 61. I was in full employment for 45 years without ever claiming any benefits. Much as I was reluctant to claim PIP, I needed the financial help to support my additional living costs. I feel that having paid Tax and NI contributions for 40+ years that some financial support from PIP wasn't unreasonable.

    I have voted Tory on occasions in the past, however if the government thinks that forcing people back to work or means testing PIP or any other benefit to save money is the way forward then I will not be voting for Tory ever again.

    Please pass on my concerns as appropriate.

    Yours sincerely,

    J
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Dave Bailey
    · 2 years ago
    Written to Simon Fell, Conservative MP for Barrow and Furness.

    "

    Please can you give me any assurance that the Government are not going to means test DWP benefits like Attendance Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, Disability Living Allowance , Child DLA & Carers Allowance?

    This would have catastrophic impact on the lives of so many people with disabilities across the UK. In the current cost of living crisis, effecting so many this would be a terrible move by The Government and I don't think they have fully thought through the effect this kind of cut might have.
    I cannot emphasize how bad a move this would be for a Government and Conservative Party who say they care.

    As a person with congenital disabilities, a full-time wheelchair user in receipt of DLA and who has a Motability car, the chance of the loss of this benefit is extremely worrying to me and will be to so many in a similar position as myself. If this goes ahead, the results will be unimaginable.

    Please tell me this is not on the cards at the Autumn budget statement or in any future plans?

    Yours sincerely,
    David Bailey"
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Harry
    · 2 years ago
    Thank you for drawing this to my attention. I have written this to my West Dorset Conservative MP. I have plagarised Paul Lancaster

    Dear Chris Loder

    There are reports in the press that this government, your party, may be consideing to means' test disability benefits in the coming Autumn Statement to be announced on 17th November 2022. Furthermore, no assurances have been given that pensions and benefits will rise in line with inflation.

    How can any Government, MP, or party member condone such actions being taken against some of the most vulnerable members of our society? The benefits systems is overly complex, awards are highly-scrutinised and can cause severe distress during the claiming process and at reviews. These reports and lack of assurances will have caused dread and anxiety to those are not able to pay their rising bills.

    Is this government content to consider reducing disability benefits when it has failed to deal with issues such as the migrant crisis, bankers bonuses and windfall taxes with such enthusiasm. Could not the super-rich with assets over £100million be considered for a 1% wealth tax?

    I am a pensioner and my wife has dementia. She cannot work and she is not yet of pensionable age. We do have savings which are being eroded by inflation and I have a pension. We have both worked hard, paid taxes and saved. This government has only 2 years to convince the electorate that it is really compassionate and that it does look after the vulnerable and not just the large corporations, oligarchs and non-doms https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/oct/25/wealth-taxes-raise-37bn-uk-public-services-campaigners

    My wife and I have always voted Conservative until now and I wish to register a protest in the strongest possible terms against introducing a means test for Personal Independence Payment and other disability awards (such as DLA and AA). In addition, these benefits and pensions must rise in line with inflation.

    Can I please have your support as my member of parliament?
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    kosher
    · 2 years ago
    Attn: Tim Loughton MP
    East Worthing and Shoreham

    Wednesday 9 November 2022


    Dear Tim Loughton,
    It has come to my attention that the government is considering means testing disability benefits.
    This would be an outrageous injustice!
    People do not choose to be disabled and the whole idea of PIP/DLA/AA is so that disabled people can pay for things and get help which then makes them operate equally to able bodied people.
    Means testing benefits means any savings over £6000.
    How will disabled people be equal and be able to live a life without the extra financial help, which often means we can work and contribute to society?
    It will be a false economy as most disabled people without this help will be imprisoned at home with no help and no use to society but health conditions will deteriorate as well as compound poor mental health.
    These benefits get spent in the local economy so are an asset and provide jobs.

    It would be a grave mistake if these benefits were means tested, disabled people are not 'scroungers' we need help and without this help you are condemning millions of people to opt out of society.

    Yours sincerely,
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Claire Oliver
    · 2 years ago
    I wrote to my Conservative MP Dr Neil Hudson the day this rumour started and published it on Twitter. No response as yet....
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Michelle
    · 2 years ago
    I have just emailed my msp Allan Doran. This has terrified me!

    I am very concerned by the information I have just received from benefits and work, please see the article below.

    I am in receipt of PIP and my husband is my full time carer, if this happens as the article suggests, it will cripple me and my husband not only financially, but mentally as well and affect lots of vulnerable people.

    Could you please look into this matter urgently and get back to me asap.

    Yours sincerely
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Pj
    · 2 years ago
    In a title entitled ' no assessment made on means testing pip. In the daily record .
    It is as follows

    In a written response on November 8, DWP Minister for Disabled People, Tom Pursglove, said: “Personal Independence Payment, as for all the extra costs disability benefits, is not means tested. No assessment has been made of the administrative costs of introducing a means test.”

    Read into it as you may. Thoughts please 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Mark
      · 2 years ago
      @Pj That says to me if they have not examined the cost of doing it , they will not do it ..I hope I’m right 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Archibald MacIntyre
    · 2 years ago
    I, like many, am concerned about the possibility of the likes of PIP becoming means tested. My ESA is already paid at a reduced rate as I have a modest occupational pension. I was retired from the Civil Service several years ago on health grounds and as I am now 65 years old am unlikely to work again, assuming my health ever improved.  I have a question though. As a resident in Scotland I am about to be transferred to Adult Disability Payment. Anybody have any idea if the Scottish Government is floating similar proposals? I haven't any mention in the Scottish media of it. Has anyone?

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