Labour have made a wide range of promises to improve the lives of claimants in their manifesto published today. These include scrapping the current personal independence payments (PIP) and employment and support allowance (ESA) assessments, ending the privatisation of assessments and reinstating the work-related activity component of ESA.
The main undertakings given to claimants in the manifesto are:
Scrap the sanctions regime.
Scrap the Bedroom Tax.
Increase Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) by £30 per week for those in the work-related activity group.
Implement the court decision on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) so that there is real parity of esteem between those with physical and mental-health conditions.
Scrap the Work Capability and Personal Independence Payment assessments and replace them with a personalised, holistic assessment process that provides each individual with a tailored plan, building on their strengths and addressing barriers.
End the privatisation of assessments.
End the pointless stress of reassessments for people with severe long-term conditions.
Reinstate Housing Benefit for under-21s.
Scrap cuts to Bereavement Support Payment.
Reform and redesign universal credit (UC), ending six-week delays in payment and the ‘rape clause’.
Repeal cuts in the UC limited capacity for work element.
Increase Carer’s Allowance by £11 to the level of Jobseekers’ Allowance.
Commission a report into expanding the Access to Work programme.
Change how Jobcentre Plus staff are performance-managed.
You can read the full details of Labour’s offer to claimants on pages 56-57 of the Labour Party manifesto
