DWP Minister to be quizzed on health-related benefit reform
The cross-party Work and Pensions Committee will question DWP Minister Sir Stephen Timms on the Government’s plans to reform Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and Universal Credit (UC) health benefits in the final session of its Pathways to Work inquiry.
Meeting details
On Wednesday, the Government published a Bill that is intended to action restrictions on access to the daily living component of PIP. The Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill, if passed, will also nearly halve the rate of UC health for future claimants, from £423.27 to £217.26 a month. This will be partly offset by above-inflation increases in the standard allowance in every year of this Parliament, as well as protections for people with the most severe, lifelong conditions receiving UC health.
The policy is controversial as it will see hundreds of thousands of people lose at least some of their health-related benefits by 2030 as the Government seeks to rein in welfare costs.
Members of the Committee are likely to ask about the reforms, how the Government will identify those who have severe conditions and are entitled to protections with the Work Capability Assessment due to be replaced, and the impact they will have on people whose payments are reduced. The Minister is also likely to be challenged on the limited consultation process for the Pathways to Work Green Paper that initially outlined the welfare reform proposals.
The number of claimants of PIP, which helps with the costs of extra care or other needs that come from having a disability whether or not they are in work, is forecast by the DWP to rise from 3 million working-age people to more than 4 million by the end of the decade, potentially adding a further £12 billion in costs.