UK: Disability benefits (UC, ESA and PIP) - news and updates 2024 and 2025

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c705nxgqvv8o

Jobs fears as disability scheme owes businesses thousands

Businesses employing disabled people say they are owed hundreds of thousands of pounds by the government, and fear they may have to let staff go.

Under the Access to Work scheme, companies and employees can apply for grants to help support disabled people in the workplace.

But businesses have told the BBC there are backlogs and huge payment delays leaving them out of pocket.

One company told the BBC it is owed nearly £200,000 by the Access to Work scheme and is worried it may have to close.

Another said it had already been forced to shut down in part due to problems with the programme.

Access to Work was highlighted by ministers as a way of boosting the job prospects of disabled people when the government announced multi-billion pound welfare cuts last month.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said they had recently introduced a "streamlined claims process" to make swifter payments to businesses.

Yateley Industries is a near 90-year-old charity in Hampshire that employs almost 60 people, most of whom have disabilities, in a range of packaging jobs.

It says it is owed £186,000 by the Access to Work scheme.

"It's an existential threat to us," says chief executive, Sheldon McMullan. "If we don't get it, we could potentially close this magical place forever, and that would be a tragedy for the local community and for the government's agenda more broadly."

Yateley Industries is part of a nationwide forum of dozens of supported businesses - companies specialising in employing disabled people.

Mr McMullan says many others are affected by the backlog.

"The annoying thing is that it's money that's been granted to us," he adds. "We have the paperwork saying this is what each person's been awarded, but the claim system is not set up for us to draw down the money effectively."

Businesses say that as well as poor internal processes at the Department for Work and Pensions, there has also been a large increase in the bureaucracy associated with Access to Work in recent months, with many more forms having to be filled in and then posted – not uploaded or emailed – to the DWP.

"Until ministers realise that they've got this wrong, they're in danger of pushing so many disabled people out of the workplace," says Steven McGurk, president of the trade union, Community Union.

"Its very bureaucratic, very difficult to claim - it's the biggest threat to disabled people's employment."

The programme can pay individuals with disabilities and the businesses that employ them for the extra costs associated with being in work. It covers a broad range of support, from paying for taxis to powered wheelchairs.

 

Happened a lot in my former industry, particularly for terps.

If companies weren't absolutely dedicated to employing BSL-using actors, they'd have got no work at all. It's so difficult, and so financially risky, that actually choosing to employ a deaf person was verging on crazy. One I worked for had to wait two years for a £20k plus bill to be settled, despite all the paperwork having been submitted correctly and on time.

I don't know the situation now, but Graeae Theatre in London, whose companies are almost all disabled, used to need to employ someone solely to deal with Access to Work.

 

There's also this, at the bottom of the article:

So we're going to cut disabled people's benefits to make sure they've no other option but to work, but we're also going to cut the funding they depend on to get there.

 

And then this was also in the news yesterday.

Jobs fears as disability scheme owes businesses thousands

"Businesses employing disabled people say they are owed hundreds of thousands of pounds by the government, and fear they may have to let staff go.

Under the Access to Work scheme, companies and employees can apply for grants to help support disabled people in the workplace.

But businesses have told the BBC there are backlogs and huge payment delays leaving them out of pocket."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c705nxgqvv8o

 

I think this last bit is the aim . But it always has been. In the most unloved cruel way possible. The work bs is a cover they know isn’t available and they don’t want us anyway and no protections are actually possible for all the laws noone can get followed and just get bullied instead - even the tv programmes are starting to get decent interviewees who admit even if they wanted that it takes time so if it’s about cuts then it’s low hanging fruit .

it’s that time again which happens regularly over the years where of those I even have left people start to not look me in the eye avoid me and when I speak just dismiss me because of another shameful thing but that they don’t really care about the result if other than not wanting to hear or see it from me. So I imagine another load of hatred for being incapable and disgusting once the cuts and extra hoops come in and it affects my health and so more people hate me more for that and being more disgusting. Hated for being sad let’s be honest by people who do callous cruelty things to me then want to be able to have a go at me for being hurt by it.

I don’t think we are meant to survive and certainly not visibly so. And yes the work bs is a distracted and just mentioned as an antagonist to prompt a reason to hate us (don’t want them in the workplace anyway, what use are they, if they’d done enough they wouldn’t be here needing this etc) but mostly we’ve been chosen as the folllateral damage that makes life easier for everyone we just have to not make a toss or look pathetic or we will get shouted as as we are led through our fate

I notice we’ve got some of the usual propagandists chasing us round again hounding us so each time we open our mouths they seal over us to suggest we have something we don’t - just some attitude problem or fear that makes others feel happier about bullying us and kicking the dog and manipulating to put themselves first over our needs and us getting worse, because of those lies told for us by imposters pretending to be us selling ‘it’s ok to trample them so they’ve even less of a survival if it gives you more even if that more isn’t really something you need , just be selfish because the disabled should know their place and fit around you or pay for it’

 

Hi Kitty, that was a survey that B&W ran that has now closed.



But Benefits & Work have set up a form for people who have no 4-point scores for PIP daily living to demonstrate what the impact on them would be. It's called The PIP Test. You can just try out using this form. It's relatively easy to read. This is not an official form and is anonymous, it just shows people/claimants/patients how they would score under the new system.'


Take the Pip Test:
https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/personal.../pip-self-test


'Our PIP test allows you to score yourself for the daily living and mobility components of PIP just by clicking with your mouse.

It will do the maths for you, tell you what components you assess yourself as qualifying for and what rates you assess yourself as being eligible for. It will even email you a copy of your test results if you decide to provide your email address – but that’s entirely up to you.'


'But you do need to be aware that a decision maker using a report from a health professional working for the Health Assessment Advisory Service (HAAS) may not reach the same conclusion that you do about your eligibility for PIP.


The PIP self-test is anonymous, and the results will appear in your browser as soon as you have completed the single page of multiple choice questions. But, if you wish, you can also have your PIP results emailed to you.'
.

Sorry if this has been already posted.

 

Blimey, they've had a lot of responses since I submitted mine on Thursday.

Be interesting to see how they analyse it.

 

And that's just baseline increase in demand, they haven't actually started the process that will require this of even more people, which is the very reason they want to do this. Which will require more money. Which isn't available. Is there anything the biopsychosocial ideology can't make worse? Because this is all the result of going through with it, of decades of creep and worsening. In the end it's spending more to get worse results while simultaneously boasting of success but also lamenting how it's completely unsustainable because it's far too expensive.

If anyone remembers, even Wessely said that the PACE treatment model was far too expensive to implement, even if it worked. Which it didn't. But they implemented it anyway, they just shook it and diluted it enough so that it's cheaper, but still too expensive, and it doesn't work anyway.

"There is no point in claiming that the purpose of a system is to do what it constantly fails to do"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_purpose_of_a_system_is_what_it_does

 

LBC are running a story today about there potentially being more benefits cuts in the autumn statement

https://www.lbc.co.uk/politics/uk-politics/rachel-reeves-more-benefit-cuts-autumn-budget/

"Government sources say the welfare bill – which is still predicted to balloon – is far more of an easier target than other departments with big budgets"

 

That's the language of a government playing to populists. They don't need any facts or reasoning, dog whistle words will do the job.

 

Yeah let’s not put in any effort to prevent disease or try to cure/ mitigate symptoms, let’s just harass and hound the sick and disabled.

 

So basing all this on a forecast for 4 years from now. Every time economic figures are released, like February's UK GDP growth figure, the headlines read "Unexpected higher/lower growth in the economy". From month to month they can't get predictions right so how on earth can they predict what the situation will be in 4 years time?
Let's have a policy based on figures which we just make up.

 

I have been involved in this on behalf of MELN (ME Local Groups Network) along with Long Covid Support and #ThereForME

New survey: Help inform welfare benefits reform

The UK government is proposing changes to welfare benefits that could have a serious impact on people living with Long Covid and ME/CFS.

If you receive PIP, UC or ESA benefits, or care for someone who does, we want to hear from you.

This survey has been created by Long Covid Support, Action for ME, ME Local Network, and #ThereForME, in collaboration with the All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) on Long Covid and MΕ.

It's open to residents of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. (Scotland has a separate system and will require a different survey.)

Your responses will support our advocacy to the government for benefits that better support people living with these conditions. No identifying information will be shared.

Thank you for helping ensure the voices of people with Long Covid and ME/CFS are heard.

Take our 5-10 min survey: https://forms.gle/N8Dg9bNkFRQHnVPc8

This survey has been endorsed by the following organisations: Bury and Bolton ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia Support Group, Hope4mefibroNI, Keyworker Petition UK, Long Covid Advocacy, Long Covid kids, Long Covid SOS, Supporting Healthcare Heroes UK #MEActionUK, ForwardME, Physios for ME, 25% ME Group, MERC PAG

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1...0HFdp8x9YtpBw9LwFGmIOkhJQ/viewform?usp=header

ETA: Mods: I hope this is ok to share here?

 

I did the survey. It's nice to feel I'm adding my voice to something as I feel quite powerless.

 

Oh they know it's really rising, and they know why: COVID. But they approved the policy of unleashing COVID, they can't admit that they did this. So instead they bully the people they harmed. Just like every other country is doing. And most of it is problems they don't know how to fix, they don't want to do the work to solve those, medicine is simply not up to the task on this, can't face this level of difficulty.

Especially as it was predicted. Even worse: it was predicted by us, by unpeople, while the serious medical experts dismissed this as a bunch of quackery, and still do. Because it's egos above lives, even above their own prosperity. A mirror of what is happening in the US, only slightly different: paying more to lose more.

 

I am glad it helped..it helped me to be involved in the project.

It all feels really tough right now.
Hugs all round folks

 

I’ve done this. I was disappointed that they didn’t ask about potentially losing LCWRA as that’s a massive issue for me and others who can’t work and got super ill from 2020. I think ESA is an older benefit.

 

I have just seen this FOI on social media via “crips not cuts” activist group

The numbers of people on PIP at standard and enhanced daily living, and % who score lower than 4 in all activities

87% of standard daily living claimants, of whom there are 1.2mil