Cuts to Personal Independent Payments (PIP) threaten to make life harder for thousands – including FBU members, writes Dawn Forrest of the FBU Disabled and Neurodivergent members forum
Westminster plans set out in April will tighten the eligibility criteria for PIP, so that claimants must meet higher thresholds during an assessment of their needs to receive the ‘daily living’ element of the benefit.
Economic estimates of the consequences look devastating. The Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) own impact assessment suggests that an additional 300,000 disabled people will be pushed into poverty by the cuts.
For many in England and Wales, including FBU members, this will mean losing the vital financial support that helps with the additional costs of being disabled. One FBU member in receipt of PIP, who is Autistic, ADHD and Dyslexic, described this to us:
“[We have] needs that lead to increased costs in our lives: the need for accessibility software, counselling support and coaching, it’s all part of a hidden disability tax that creates huge stress on peoples' lives and welfare when not well supported.”
For most disabled people, PIP has never been perfect – the process of applying is stressful and the payments aren’t enough to cover the costs they’re intended to – but it remains vital in keeping disabled workers living with dignity and freedom.
There is a false rhetoric, in the media and from right-wing politicians, that PIP is an unemployment benefit, and that firefighters wouldn’t or shouldn’t be eligible for it. This couldn’t be further from the truth, as one member described:
“When we imagine stereotypical images of who may be claiming PIP, it is easy to forget that disabilities are experienced in all roles of life ... PIP is viewed often only for those with obvious physical disabilities and not for seemingly ‘fit’, operational staff.”
Simply put, making it harder to qualify for PIP will mean many workers, including FBU members, as well as their families, friends, and communities, will face job losses and financial hardship as a result.
These cuts are a choice. In Scotland, Holyrood has stated that the devolved government has no intention of implementing similar cuts.
We must stand together and continue to call on Labour to reverse these misguided and cruel attacks.
