This petition was submitted during the 2015-2017 parliament

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Petition Stop the government from slashing disabled benefits

The Government has its targets set on the disabled, looking to slash the disability benefit bill by reducing Personal Independence Payments drastically for hundreds of people and replacing some with vouchers.

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PIPs are a life line for many British Citizens living with disabilities and long term conditions. Many of these people are either working or have worked and contributed to the system in the past. Personal Independence Payments allows them to meet the considerable financial burden that disability and long term ill health bring. Costs such as care, travel, equipment, constant hospital and doctors appointments, keeping warm, special diets and the list goes on and on.

This petition is closed This petition ran for 6 months

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Government responded

This response was given on 5 April 2016

The Government will spend more on disability benefits in each year to 2020 than was spent in 2010 and has made clear that it does not intend to change the rules for Personal Independence Payment

The Government is committed to supporting everyone to achieve their full potential and to live independent lives.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) was introduced from April 2013 to be a more modern and dynamic benefit to help to cover the extra costs faced by people with long-term health conditions and disabilities.

PIP maintains the key principles of its predecessor benefit, Disability Living Allowance (DLA), but delivers support in a fairer, more consistent and sustainable manner. It is also designed to focus support on those with the greatest need. For example, 22% of claimants receive the highest level of support under PIP, compared to 15% under DLA.

As highlighted in the first independent review of the PIP assessment by Paul Gray, the policy around the use of aids and appliance did not appear to be working as intended. The Government therefore decided to consult on how aids and appliances are taken into account when determining entitlement to the daily living component of PIP.

After careful consideration of the issue the Government announced on 21 March that it would not make any changes to PIP. The Government also stated that it has no further plans to make savings to the social security budget beyond the measures already announced.

PIP will continue to provide a valuable cash contribution to people with long-term health conditions and disabilities to help them meet their additional costs. Under PIP a higher proportion of people receive the top rates of benefit than those on DLA, ensuring that the money the Government spends on welfare is targeted at those who need it most. Overall spending on DLA and PIP will continue to be higher in every year to 2020 than in 2010, and the Government will spend £50 billion this year alone on benefits to support people with disabilities and health conditions.

Department for Work and Pensions

MPs debate social security equality

You may be interested to know that on Tuesday 26 April MPs debated social security (equality) which included the impact of changes to the benefits system on people with disabilities and PIP.

Christian Matheson, MP for the City of Chester, successfully applied for a debate in Westminster Hall through a ballot system. This is one of the ways backbench MPs can get debates.

Justin Tomlinson MP, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Disabled People, responded to the points made in the debate on behalf of the Government.

You can watch the debate on Parliament TV: http://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/400c4c2d-b7dd-4305-bbc9-37e1fa7e8bab?in=17:10:00

You can read the debate on the Hansard website: https://hansard.digiminster.com/commons/2016-04-26/debates/16042649000001/SocialSecurity(Equality)

This email has been sent by the House of Commons Petitions Committee. You can find out more about the work of the Petitions Committee on its website here: www.parliament.uk/petitions-committee

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