The changes, which come into force in January 2017, will affect people who struggle to get dressed or undressed unaided and those who require an aid to help them use the toilet.
PIP helps claimants meet the extra costs associated with long-term disability but the government is changing the formula it uses to calculate the daily living component of the benefit in order to make savings of £1.2 billion.
Claimants are assessed using a points system to determine how much support they require to live their lives. To receive the standard level of PIP, a claimant must score eight points, while the enhanced level of PIP requires a score of 12. The changes mean that claimants will have their points halved if they require an ‘aid or appliance’ like a walking stick or a perching stool.
It is expected that these changes will lead to 400,000 people losing entitlement to the enhanced award and more than 200,000 losing their eligibility for the benefit entirely as their total score will drop below the threshold.
In addition to the immediate challenge posed by a loss of vital income, the changes could also lead to claimants no longer being entitled to receive other benefits that enable them to enjoy family life or take part in the communities they live in. Carer’s Allowance, the disability element of Working Tax Credits, and a disability premium in Housing Benefit are all ‘passported benefits’ that claimants will lose entitlement to if they do not reach the threshold for the enhanced level of PIP.
Peter McCabe, Chief Executive of Headway, said: “These latest cuts will have a devastating impact on survivors of a brain injury.
“Headway made its position very clear on the planned changes to PIP when it responded to the government’s consultation earlier this year. We urged the government to reconsider its proposals and provide a neurology specialist during assessments to ensure that brain injury survivors’ needs were properly considered. However, the government has not listened to the voices of disabled people and the charities that support them.
“The decision to make these harsh cuts to the vulnerable, whilst announcing measures in the budget to help higher rate taxpayers and reduce corporation and capital gains tax, creates the impression the government has lost its moral compass.”
Back