Benefit cuts are a 'violation of human rights' which will harm ill and disabled people, Labour warned

Labour has announced the “biggest cuts to disability benefits on record”, which charities have slammed as a “violation of human rights” that could harm seriously ill and disabled people.

As a result of the reforms, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) hopes to slash £5bn from the welfare bill over the next five years.

Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, said the social security system “snares millions of people in a cycle of unemployment and inactivity, failing the very people it’s meant to be there for, as well as the taxpayers who foot the bill”.

Read more of Big Issue’s analysis of Labour’s benefit reforms:

• Cuts, universal credit and PIP: Everything you need to know about Labour’s benefits overhaul
• How Labour’s changes to universal credit are going to impact millions of Brits
• DWP’s new unemployment benefit and changes to work capability assessments, explained

Proposals include tightening the eligibility criteria for personal independence payment (PIP), and the health element of universal credit being frozen for current claimants and reduced for new claimants.

James Taylor, executive director of strategy at disability equality charity Scope, said: “The biggest cuts to disability benefits on record should shame the government to its core. They are choosing to penalise some of the poorest people in our society.

“Almost half of families in poverty include someone who is disabled. Life costs more if you are disabled. Ripping £5bn out of the system by 2030 will be a catastrophe for disabled peoples’ living standards and independence.

“The government will be picking up the pieces in other parts of the system with pressure on an already overwhelmed NHS and social care, as more disabled people are pushed into poverty. We expect the consultation will see an overwhelming response. We urge the government to listen to disabled people and think again.”

Labour has claimed it will protect people with the most severe and long-term disabilities and health conditions. These people will no longer have to face regular assessments to get their disability benefits, and they will have their incomes protected.

However, charity Z2K has found that people it supports with severe disabilities could be affected by cuts to PIP – including “double amputees, stroke survivors and people with psychosis”.

The proposals will make it harder to qualify for the daily living component of PIP, by requiring that a claimant must ‘score’ at least four points under at least one activity in order to be eligible. According to Z2K, a “significant number” of people currently qualify for support by scoring between one and three points across a range of activities.

Anela Anwar, chief executive of Z2K, said: “These shocking and dangerous proposals would have a devastating effect on families who are already living in poverty. The plans make a mockery of the government’s commitments to tackle child poverty and the widespread reliance on food banks.

“Despite the government’s rhetoric, the truth is that these are panicked cuts which represent a return to the same old failed approach of prioritising short-term savings over real reform. An approach which not only fails disabled people, but which has also been shown to fail to generate long-term savings for government.

“If the government is serious about meaningful reform, it must rethink these reckless proposals to ensure that those with the most severe disabilities are protected. We need a social security system that we can all rely on in times of need.”

Speaking to the Big Issue, Z2k’s director of policy and campaigns Ayla Ozmen urged the government to address barriers to work for disabled people, consider what is driving the increased numbers of people with health conditions, and tackle the inadequacy of the basic rates of benefits.

The standard rate of universal credit is set to increase by £7 per week, which Ozmen claims will not “meaningfully address the issue”. Meanwhile, the health element of universal credit will be frozen for current claimants and reduced for new claimants.

For new claims, the rate of the universal credit health element will be cut by £47 per week, from £97 per week in 2024 to £50 per week in 2026/2027.

There are 900,000 children living in a household where someone is eligible for ‘limited capability for work and work-related activity’, the main health-related element for universal credit.

Jen Clark, economic and social rights lead, at Amnesty UK, said: “There can be no other way to view today’s decision but as a hastily applied financial penalty applied only to people in need that will cause more harm and is a violation of human rights.  

“In his own words, the prime minister ‘has been clear there is both a moral and an economic case for fixing our broken social security system’, but his proposed safety net is full of holes. There needs to be total reform.  

“The voices dominating this issue should not be from politicians, but from the millions of people who live the daily reality of a devastating domino effect as their access to housing crumbles, secure healthcare is swept away, and the most basic essentials slip out of reach.  

 ”Abandoning some of the most vulnerable in our society cannot be a solution to prop up the economy.  Surely the priorities should always be to house, feed and clothe people and make sure they have what they need to survive. The government has the choice to end poverty, but today they have made the political choice to worsen it.”

Disabled people are already at greater risk of poverty – they are three times more likely to face hunger, and three quarters of people at food banks are disabled or live with someone who is disabled.

Helen Barnard, director of policy at Trussell, said: “We’re deeply concerned by the cuts announced to disability payments today. People at food banks have told us they are terrified of how they might survive.”

Trussell has welcomed proposals from the DWP to boost the basic rate to universal credit and invest in employment support. The DWP has announced a £240m investment in employment support, with work coaches providing intensive and personalised support to tens of thousands of benefit claimants.

However, charities warn that the cuts could “undermine” trust and lead to less engagement with support.

“Huge cuts risk pushing more disabled people to the doors of food banks, and will have devastating consequences for us all. The UK government was elected on manifesto pledges to end the need for emergency food parcels. This isn’t what people voted for,” Barnard said.

“Our social security system should be rooted in justice and compassion, able to be there for us all, especially when we need it most. This isn’t a done deal. With at least a year before any cuts come into force, there’s still time for the prime minister and chancellor to rethink and make good on today’s promise to restore trust and fairness in the social security system.”

Labour is scrapping the work capability assessment, and instead all disability benefit claimants will undergo the PIP assessment process.

Under-22s could be prevented from claiming the health element of universal credit altogether under Labour’s proposals.

Mikey Erhardt, campaigner at Disability Rights UK, said: “The government knows that the work capability assessment is deeply flawed but using the PIP assessment process as a gateway makes clear that its goal is not to create a new system based on dignity, support, and equity but limiting access to support for disabled people.

“Instead, they want to deny that we have sickness and disability and ignore systemic barriers to work. They assume we don’t work when we could – and the way to increase employment levels is to force us into unsafe, unsustainable, and exploitative work.

“It’s clear from the fact that the disability employment gap has barely reduced since 2019 that these punitive policies don’t work, and the only way to close the disability employment gap is to remove the many systemic barriers that we face.”

James Watson-O’Neill, chief executive at national disability charity Sense, added: “Disabled people need greater support from the government, not draconian cuts that will drive more disabled people into poverty. We are deeply concerned about the devastating impact these cuts will have on those disabled people who are unable to work. They deserve vital financial protection.”

Sense research has shown that half of disabled people with complex needs who are unable to work cannot afford the support and equipment they require.

Watson-O’Neill added: “Trying to frame cuts to benefits as a solution to incentivise work is misplaced. PIP was never designed to help people find work. It’s about helping disabled people cover the extra costs of living with a disability, which often enables them to stay in employment. Stripping away this support will not create more job opportunities for disabled people – it will simply leave them more vulnerable.”

Sense is urging the government to instead focus on removing the barriers disabled jobseekers face, with nationwide rollout of assistive technology in job centres, and more targeted training for work coaches to support disabled people’s unique needs.

Watson-O’Neill said: “Most importantly, we need the government to commit to ensuring that disabled people who cannot work are financially protected, not penalised for being disabled.”

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