PIP and Unpaid Carers Reform

It’s clear that we need to support more people to get back into work so that we can bring down the welfare bill, but you don’t do that by just slashing support for those who need it.

If the Government was serious about cutting welfare spending it would get serious about fixing health and social care and the broken Department of Work and Pensions. That is why it has been so disappointing to see the Government’s lack of urgency in this area, putting their social care review on a three-year timeline, kicking projects like new hospitals into the long grass, and still no overhaul of the Department. Until that changes, no meaningful drop in the welfare bill will arrive, and the misery that people are suffering will continue.

The Liberal Democrats have been very clear that some of these announcements are simply wrong, for example cutting PIP for people who need support with daily tasks. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is failing those it is meant to support, and short-term cuts will only deepen that failure.

The best way to bring down benefit spending is to fix health and social care and fix it quickly. Rather than relentless cost-cutting, we need long-term reform to create a fairer, more compassionate system—one that provides security and dignity for those who rely on it.

I’m also very concerned by the impact the changes to PIP will have on unpaid carers and I raised this during an Urgent Question on the topic. I said:

“Last year I had an Adjournment Debate on support for unpaid carers, during which the Minister for Care promised that we would forge ahead with a future in which unpaid carers are visible, valued and supported.

“I do have to say, that is now how unpaid carers are feeling today.”

I also raised the issues of carers allowance and the cliff edge that many unpaid carers face:

“The Minister referred to the increase in the earnings limit for unpaid carers allowance and how that’s increased, but can I say to the Minister that there is still a cliff edge as a result of that.

“Is the Government planning to bring forward plans to link the earnings limit to the 16 hours of employment at the national minimum wage? Because we know those issues are some of the things that caused the overpayment for carers allowance in the first place.

You can watch the full question here: