People with long-term health conditions, including a man given 12 months to live, have said they welcome the Government’s decision not to freeze the personal independence payment (Pip) despite rumours to the contrary.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall announced an overhaul of the welfare system and reform to disability benefits on Tuesday after she said the current social security system was “failing the very people it is supposed to help and holding our country back”.
The measures in Ms Kendall’s announcement include reviewing the Pip assessment with a view to longer-term reform to ensure the process is “fit for purpose now and into the future” and confirming the payment will not be frozen, which has been a relief for many.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall leaves Downing Street, London, after a Cabinet meeting (James Manning/PA)
PA Wire
Some people with long-term health conditions said they had felt “frightened” ahead of Tuesday’s announcement, amid rumours the personal independence payment would be frozen.
Des Longstaff, 39, who lives with terminal cancer, has claimed Pip and said he welcomed the changes.
“That’s great news. It’s the last thing that I would have needed to happen because I need to be able to live,” Mr Longstaff, from Lytham St Annes, in Lancashire, told the PA news agency.
“Unfortunately, I’m stuck between a pillar and a post at the moment. If they froze it, then I wouldn’t, I don’t know what I’d do or where I’d be at really.”
Ms Kendall also announced £5 billion of savings, which will largely come from changes to eligibility for Pip, but also from a reduction to the health element of universal credit, it is understood.
Mr Longstaff welcomed the savings, but said he feared he may not live to see the changes after doctors warned he may only have months to live when he was diagnosed with stage 4 advanced oesophageal adenocarcinoma on December 23 last year.
“It’s not something I’m going to see, unfortunately, unless I have a miracle. But for everybody else with other disabilities, it’s going to be a bonus,” he said.
Mr Longstaff has since started a GoFundMe campaign with the aim of raising £44,000 to fund life-changing treatment in Germany, which may add years to his life.
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Meanwhile, Stephen Kerr, 57, who said he lives in “constant pain” from osteoarthritis, said he was “tentatively positive” about the Government’s changes, but that he had felt scared Pip could be frozen following the rumours.
(PA Graphics)
PA Graphics
“It did frighten me to think (the Government) are going to be raiding the least advantaged people in the country to pay for the problems caused by the last government,” Mr Kerr, from Northampton, told PA.
It is thought Ms Kendall’s plans will save billions of pounds by the end of the decade, but Mr Kerr said he felt the Government was “beating the wrong end of the problem”.
“Disabled people didn’t cause austerity, the banks to crash, housing to collapse. Disabled people are often used because a lot of us are economically inactive, so we’re used as the whipping boys and girls,” he said.
Other measures from Tuesday’s announcement include scrapping the work capability assessment for universal credit, which Mr Kerr welcomed but said he remained sceptical about whether the Government would keep its promises.
“I’m quite tentatively positive about the fact that (Ms Kendall) said the work capability assessments for people with lifelong conditions won’t be constantly reassessed,” he said.
“Nothing ever sounds as good as it is. She made it sound as if we’re going to save money and that those with the longest-term conditions are going to be OK.
(PA Graphics)
PA Graphics
“I welcome that if it’s true, but I must admit that I’ve seen so many governments come and go. Unfortunately, I can’t hold them all as truthful.”
Mr Kerr has lived with osteoarthritis, diabetes and arrhythmia for seven years, and relies on his family to help him cook, clean, wash and dress.
He said he lives in “constant pain”, taking daily painkillers which help but “limit life”, adding that having Pip “gives me a little bit of self-worth back”.
Mr Kerr said he welcomed the Government’s support to help disabled people get back into work after he found navigating “the massive system of the DWP (Department of Work and Pensions) has been really, really hard”.
“I welcome any changes to make it easier for disabled people and unemployed people to either get back to work or to make it easier to live with our lifelong conditions,” he said.
The Government’s announced changes on Tuesday included plans to tighten the eligibility for Pip, creating a higher threshold for people to qualify, but both Mr Longstaff and Mr Kerr said their benefits would not be impacted.