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Labour spins out PIP voucher anxiety as it looks at consultation responses

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Labour is leaving millions of claimants in a state of anxiety as it reveals that it is looking at the responses to the Conservative’s green paper on PIP which suggested, amongst other things, the possibility of paying the benefit as vouchers rather than cash.

The Conservatives published a Green Paper on the future of PIP in April 2024.  Amongst the proposals were suggestions that instead of regular cash payments, PIP could be replaced with:

  • A catalogue/shop scheme
  • A voucher scheme
  • A receipt based system
  • One-off grants

The consultation period for the Green Paper ended on 22 July and we know that many of our readers took part and are desperate to know the outcome.

Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Thomas of Winchester tabled a question for the DWP in the House of Lords:

“To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to change the personal independence payment assessment.”

Yesterday, the answer came from Baroness Sherlock, the DWP minister in the House of Lords:

“We will be engaging with the responses people have made to the previous government's consultation on Personal Independence Payment, which closed on Monday 22 July.

“We want to thank the many people who invested their time in responding.

“We will be considering our own approach to social security in due course.”

The response by Baroness Sherlock makes it seem unlikely that there will be any official statement on PIP changes before the parliamentary summer recess, which lasts from 30 July until 2 September.

However, the House of Commons goes into recess again for the party conference season from 13 September until 6 October.

So, there is a real possibility that PIP claimants will be left without any news for several months.

Written questions by MPs to the secretary of state about the PIP consultation and about WCA changes have yet to receive answers.  We suspect that any responses will simply be stalling ones, but we’ll keep readers posted if we learn anything more.

 

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  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    PIP Vouchers
    · 3 months ago
    If PIP become vouchers replaced payments then I reckon no ones not eveb bother anymore to claim PIP under vouchers cos it will be useless and pointless. Labour should be ashamed of themselves and it all down to Tory to blame for bringing PIP in the first place from DLA.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    David edwards
    · 3 months ago
    Disgusting so you expect pay you taxi in vouchers he's going laugh at you your freinds expect a little petrol Funds when take you shopping hospital and other appointments the petrol station isn't going except vouchers total joke and shops going prefer cash then vouchers as usual government don't give a care about the disabled only there fat wallets 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Angel
      · 3 months ago
      @David edwards I agree. I have people who do daily shopping I can't ask them to take a voucher.  This means all shops and big stores will have to agree to take vouchers. Or my anxiety and other ailments will just get worse and goverment will pay more to keep me in hospital .shocked
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Karen
    · 3 months ago
    People pay their insurance and taxes most of their lives, so why are you wanting to change it to vouchers..  not everyone has the same problems.. my partner has had a bad stroke and what if the vouchers are not usable for him what then ? 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Mr Wheatley
    · 3 months ago
    Maybe if government stops funding wars there would be plenty of money 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    David
    · 3 months ago
    Totaly wrong  dissabled people donated aidscevery month but helps pay for other expenses 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Lou
    · 3 months ago
    Vouchers will not help people with mental health disorders. I suffer from non epileptic attack disorder (NEAD) of which I aleady am undergoing treatment for (not medication as there is no medication at all for this) so vouchers are not going to benefit me in any way or form.  I work from home on split shifts, I cannot go out on my own, I cannot shower/ bathe without my husband being with me in case I have a seizure.  Vouchers are not going to stop my condition at all.  I have been advised to cut back on my hours of work by on medical advice of which I will not be able to do if PIP payments are stopped.  Millions of people are in the same if not worse situation than myself.  It is dangerous to change to a voucher system as vouchers would not help those who do not rely aids etc..vouchers will not help those who are housebound and/or cannot go out on their own but does not need carers either. 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      boris1
      · 3 months ago
      @mrfibro @mrfibro    I agree with you.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      mrfibro
      · 3 months ago
      @Lou I think the goverment will expect claimants for example with mental health illnesses, conditions.  Will use their vouchers paying for the cost towards private therapy, rather than NHS.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Pumpkin
    · 3 months ago
    This is scaring me. But would it effectively not cost twice as much if not even tens times more to manage? Think of all these vouchers, everyone's different needs, haven't to have them approved processed etc, so many more people to employ, what if they don't take them? For example I'm epileptic, I use money to do things I can't like mow grass etc. Whole range of different things. People like that don't take vouchers. They take cash only. 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Lesley
      · 3 months ago
      @Pumpkin
      Plus the cost of delivering these goods Pumpkin.
      Enough traffic on the roads causing congestion and illness.  Postal services too erractic these days.  Lucky if we see post once a week in the flats were I live.  Postie leaves packages outside and they get stolen.  This voucher proposal is going to cause chaos.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Jeanette
    · 3 months ago
    So PIP recipients will stand in Supermarkets next to Asylum Seekers using the voucher system/ card to make purchases. What a joke this is. 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Ian
    · 3 months ago
    Vouchers wont work and almost certainly wont happen. The cost of posting the vouchers out would be astronomical, far more expensive than just sending it automatically to bank accounts. not to mention the extra work for Royal Mail. Receipts would be the same going the other way. They would have to take on thousands more workers to use either vouchers or receipts. It would end up costing FAR more. I think there will be no change but they are just trying to frighten us, which is a nasty thing to do.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Jax
      · 3 months ago
      @A And if there is another major glitch in the software as there was last week? Surely it will cost to change the system too. 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      A
      · 3 months ago
      @Grace They could simply ask you to pop into your local jobcentre plus and use their computers. And if you say you don't know how to use a compter, again they could simply tell you to ask a staff member to show you how to get your barcode.

      Their prime concern is not to make sure you receive your benefits or how you receive it but to find ways in which you can lose such an entitlement, in the first place.


    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      lesley
      · 3 months ago
      @Grace Yes, Grace agree with you.  Did write something similar myself.  I do not have a smartphone.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      lesley
      · 3 months ago
      @A
      A.  Not everyone computer literate and not everyone has their own computer.
      I do not have a mobile phone only a landline.
      Got to print out the vouchers if they send by email.  Not everyone has a printer nor understand how to print out.
      They will have to post the vouchers out to make sure that people are getting them.  Like I said - chaos.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      wibblum
      · 3 months ago
      @A Ah, so the solution is simple, then. Oh, but wait... will the government kindly pay every claimant's broadband bill and/or buy them a smartphone? And then, what about those who can't use the internet or a smartphone, or even leave their house to go to a 'store' to redeem their voucher under the disapproving gaze of Daily Mail readers because they are... you know, *disabled*.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Ruby
    · 3 months ago
    How does this work- if people pip goes on holidays and bills 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Jax
      · 3 months ago
      @Ruby What's a holiday? 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      A
      · 3 months ago
      @Ruby To them, you're not supposed to be going on holidays, as you're supposed to be destitute.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    James
    · 3 months ago
    So much media hype over this voucher system. Sounds like a Donald Trump rally. Britain will not go down the road of America i.e food stamps and vouchers. I wish to see those really in need. I do not think PIP should go to everyone though. It should be means tested, after all if you have enough money, pay for it yourself. The same applies to the Winter fuel allowance - those in NEED!!
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Laura
      · 3 months ago
      @James Unfortunately they have done exactly that with school dinner money during holidays here - vouchers. It is embarrassing. I had to purchase a printer to print them - they wouldn't scan my phone due to covid. I lose them, I forget which has what on it. I can only use them at a certain number of retailers I must choose from their prescribed list and they won't take them for online shopping! I don't have the energy to cope with it at all. If they replace PIP with vouchers the disabled will be malnourished, hypothermic, homeless and in many cases given that - suicidal. None of this is going to save money in reality because they're not looking at the bigger picture. I for one would not be able to pay my bills so would need housing benefit I don't currently get (for a family of four). When we're underweight and hypothermic NHS will need more money to deal with what was avoidable to begin with. 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      boris1
      · 3 months ago
      @A
      I am gob smacked you could even suggest it being means tested.
      Thousands of disabled claimants would lose out if that were to happen and why should we when we also have the 'extra costs of disability' these benefits are meant to cover.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      boris1
      · 3 months ago
      @Ian @Ian  it is a joke that some disabled people suggest that disability payments should become means tested.  I Am absolutely flabbergasted by such ignorance.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      boris1
      · 3 months ago
      @James @James so you think pip should be means tested?  That would penalise those of us who worked hard for many years, paid into the system and managed to get a bit of savings.     Why do you even consider that to be fair that we should not be entitled to disability benefits?

      We are just as much in NEED as any other disabled person!!
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Ian
      · 3 months ago
      @James Means tested what a joke 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    D
    · 3 months ago
    Just wondering how many new buisnesss will be set up offering to take these vouchers and being run by politicians families and friends just like the covid corruption 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    D
    · 3 months ago
    Read that its supposed to be mental health claims moved onto vouchers? can anyone corroborate this
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      boris1
      · 3 months ago
      @D Yes mental health is on of the conditions they are proposing to look at.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      lori
      · 3 months ago
      @D  Why is it less of a disability than hobbling around on a stick
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      boris1
      · 3 months ago
      @D @Jeanette   No because if they introduce vouchers then pip would no longer exist.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      mrfibro
      · 3 months ago
      @D It will be everyone gets vouchers with no discrimination of illness gender.  That way DWP saves countless billions per annum.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Bud
      · 3 months ago
      @D D, I believe that there will be changes of some sort, & this will mean it’s going to be much harder to claim benefits.  They could go for new claimants first, & those up for assessment.  If you do get an award, it could be at a lower rate as discussed several months ago by Stephen Timms.  So there could be high, middle, & lower rate.  Should the voucher scheme ever come about, it could be for those that didn’t get any award.  But that’s just my opinion. 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    pollenpath
    · 3 months ago
    I'm not defending Baroness Sherlock but all she has said is they will be engaging with people's answers to the Tories' consultation. To me that means they are reading what we've had to say on the proposals rather than screwing up our views and binning them before going right ahead and abolishing PIP as we know it. They actually want to listen to what we're saying, which is putting us at the centre of the process. They want to make some changes to the social security system but why are we just assuming the changes will be the same as those the Tories had in mind, and just as bad? 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Janet Atkinson
    · 3 months ago
    If this voucher business goes through then the government should be taken to court for taking human rights away from the disabled!!
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Fed up of politicians
    · 3 months ago
    It won't come in.

    It's too controversial, too complex,too expensive and too time consuming.

    Don't wrongly think just because they've got a majority it's a din

    Done deal and that it will merrily sail through without a fuss.

    On top of my last post about the processes and that it would be slow REALLY slow.

    There are more charities, activists,legal eagles, disability regulators and laws (that can't be changed easily either) protecting us.

    It isn't going to happen, neither is their planned ridiculous UC plans in the white paper.

    An 80% employment rate is not even possible.

    I know it's hard, but try not to let the *******s get you down.

    I did extensive research (see my other post) at the end of the day th DWP is now literally incapable of handling ALL existing backlogs, staff shortages, struggles and maintaining both staff and rules such as clearance timelines.

    There is more chance of Haley's comet landing in your living room tonight than any of this getting through.

    If and it's a HUGE IF it did we are talking 5-10 years away minimum. Look how long pip any UC have been around they can't even get that completd and right.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      wibblum
      · 3 months ago
      @Fed up of politicians I think you are right in many ways. Nothing will change overnight, and I believe the vouchers proposal has been deliberately resurrected (again) as an absurdly impractical Worst Case Scenario purely to frighten claimants. So that whatever measures are eventually actually proposed 'won't seem as bad'.

      I'll be very surprised if in the end, PIP eligibilty isn't further restricted and it doesn't become a means-tested benefit (at the very least). Although as you say, that could take at least 5-10 years to fully implement (and then add another 5 years to allow for DWP negligence and incompetence).
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Anon
      · 3 months ago
      @Fed up of politicians You're right
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Kevin Barry
    · 3 months ago
    I have not been consulted about if i want vouchers or not, why are we treated like those of the Victorian era?
    Starmers mob taking up ideas from the Tories 😄 that's because they are Tories parading as Labour 😡 we stand for the three card trick in this country. 
    Because people are disabled they are treated with contempt by these upper class leftovers from the days of the workhouse. 
    I want my payment in CASH right & not treated like crap, i don't tell them where to hide their offshore loot 🤔 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Carol wilde
    · 3 months ago
    Pip has gone up ,because no one can find jobs ,Mass lay offs caused by AI ,. 300 approx people applying for 23k jobs in London.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    M
    · 3 months ago
    I worked nearly all my life, served the country, inland revenue took handsome amounts of money from me, no vouchers guys, I will just bin them, they won't be any use to me as I need PIP to get myself around. Government should mind their own business, it's personal, very personal. 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Marie
    · 3 months ago
    I use PIP to get around, what the heck are vouchers going to do 

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