Proposals which would see £737 a month Personal Independence Payments scrapped and replaced with vouchers have been put under fresh scrutiny after an update was issued.
The new government has a different Pensions Minister in charge, who in one of his first tasks was asked to look at the Green Paper issued earlier this year which proposed the scrapping of cash PIP payments worth up to £9,583.60 a year.
If you qualify for the 2024-25 enhanced daily living and mobility components of PIP, you’ll get £184.30 a week, or £737.20 every four weeks, for a total of £9,583.60 a year. This is an increase of £600.06 a year because the government has committed to reviewing PIP payments annually to keep them in line with inflation.
In the proposals, cash handouts could be replaced by vouchers, with disabled people asked to select from an ‘approved list’ of disability items or food instead of being given money directly.
The controversial proposals were one of several ideas set out in the green paper, which also outlined how claims for mental health disabilities had surged in recent years and that the government was looking at ways to reduce a soaring welfare bill.
Now, new DWP minister for disability Stephen Timms has issued an update.
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, MP Cat Smith, asked: “To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she plans to publish her Department’s response to the consultation entitled Modernising support for independent living: the health and disability green paper, published in April 2024.”
Sir Stephen replied; “The consultation on the Modernising Support Green Paper closed on Monday 22 July. Over 16,000 responses have been received and we will review these responses.
“The proposals in this Green Paper were developed by the previous government. We will be considering our own approach to social security in due course.”
The number of responses is far beyond what was anticipated. By comparison, just 1,300 people responded to a consultation on changes to work capability assessments.
Though Labour has not ruled out pressing ahead with the proposals, the wording suggests that the new government is not minded to go ahead with the PIP changes.
