News

We’re already hearing from lots of readers wanting to know if the announcement of the election date will make any difference to the proposed changes to PIP or the new date for employment and support allowance to universal credit migration.

We’ve set out our thoughts below, but do make sure you’re getting our free, fortnightly newsletter to be kept informed, as we hopefully learn more.

PIP proposals

The Health and Disability Green Paper, published last month, suggested a range of alternatives to paying PIP as a cash benefit, including:

•  A catalogue/shop scheme
• A voucher scheme
• A receipt based system
• One-off grants
• Therapy instead of cash

If the Conservatives win a working majority, then it’s likely that the Green Paper will be followed by a White Paper which will set out which of the proposals the government plans to take forward.  This will be followed by legislation.

If Labour win then that’s probably the last we will hear of the Green Paper.

However, that doesn’t mean it’s the last we will hear of some of the ideas it contains.  It’s entirely possible that Labour will also be looking to reduce the current rapidly increasing cost of PIP.

Or they may be aiming to bend it more towards encouraging at least some recipients into work – even though PIP is not supposed to have any connection with whether or not a claimant is employed.

Alison McGovern, standing in for DWP shadow secretary of state Liz Kendall and responding on Labour’s behalf to the publication of the Green Paper, said:

“Labour will carefully review the detail of the Green Paper, because the country that we want is one where disabled people have the same right to a good job and help to get it as anyone else. We will judge any measure that the Government bring forward on its merits and against that principle, because the costs of failure in this area are unsustainable.  The autonomy and routine of work is good for us all, for our mental and physical health—and more than that, for women, work is freedom, too.”

McGovern went on to disown PIP to some extent, pointing out that:

“PIP was the creation of a Conservative Government, so where is the analysis of what has gone wrong? PIP replaced DLA, and now we are hearing that PIP is the problem. How many more times will we go around this same roundabout?”

 So, whilst there is a strong chance the Green Paper will go no further, many readers may conclude that it is still worth taking part in the consultation to send a strong message to whoever forms the next government.

ESA to UC forced migration

Earlier this month, the government announced that it is now going to begin moving income-related ESA claimants onto UC from September 2024, with everyone being notified to make the move by December 2025.

This is much earlier than the previous plan, which had seen the move for ESA claimants put off until 2028.

The Treasury has provided additional money to fund the accelerated move and the DWP are now working on the details.  The DWP is known to favour an early transfer, as they would prefer to complete the whole process in one go, rather than taking a break of several years and then starting again in 2028.

The move from ESA to UC was originally delayed as a cost saving measure, because the government thought that they would be paying out more under UC than under ESA. But the unexpectedly high proportion of claimants who fail to make the transfer from legacy benefits to UC means that this may no longer be the case.

The only real question mark is whether the department has the capacity to move this many claimants on schedule – very little to do with UC so far has happened on time.

But if the Conservatives win a majority at the election, there is no doubt the transfer will begin this year.

If Labour win and take no action then the transfer will still begin this year, as it requires no legislation of any sort.

Only if Labour choose to actively intervene and put the move on hold, will the process be stopped.

We know, from statements like the one above from Alison McGovern, that Labour’s social security policy is likely to focus on moving more claimants into work.  If they see transferring claimants from ESA onto UC as increasing the probability of getting more people into work, then there’s a strong chance they will let the process continue.

However, there is no doubt that many disability and advice charities will be lobbying hard for the transfer to be put on hold.

At this point we can’t know which way Labour will jump and, we suspect, they will remain tight-lipped on the subject throughout the election campaign.

But if there’s any news we’ll let you know.