Plan to freeze PIP disability benefits may be dropped

Ministers are considering abandoning plans to frost immoderate disablement benefits, the BBC understands.

Initial reports had suggested Personal Independence Payments (PIP) would not emergence successful enactment with ostentation for a year, but galore usually loyal Labour MPs person voiced beardown absorption successful meetings successful No10, arsenic good arsenic to enactment whips and ministers.

The eligibility criteria for PIP volition beryllium tightened with the authorities expected to chopped billions of pounds from the payment budget, but dropping the frost could debar a perchance damaging ballot successful the Commons.

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall volition acceptable retired details of reforms to payment successful a greenish insubstantial adjacent week.

Part of the betterment volition besides see a "right to try" warrant - allowing radical with disabilities the accidental to instrumentality up employment without the hazard of losing their benefits if it does not enactment out.

After Liz Kendell lays retired her plans, Chancellor Rachel Reeves volition past uncover the afloat standard of payment spending reductions, expected to beryllium betwixt £5bn and £6bn, successful her Spring Statement connected 26 March.

On Friday she said the authorities needed to "get a grip" connected the payment bill, saying the strategy is not moving for the payer oregon recipients.

Total spending connected wellness and disablement benefits is forecast to emergence from £64.7bn successful 2023-24 to £100.7bn successful 2029-30. The biggest contributor to this summation would beryllium from payment spending connected working-age adults, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility.

The 2nd largest azygous constituent of the working-age payment measure is PIP.

In 2023-24, PIP totalled £18bn, a fig projected to astir treble to £34bn by 2029-30. That would mean the fig of claimants rising from 2.7 cardinal to 4.2 million.

With Labour holding a ample Commons majority, a frost to PIP would beryllium apt to walk a vote, but interior divisions would beryllium highlighted.

Sources told the BBC the measures to beryllium announced would inactive beryllium hard and restricting who qualifies for PIP was apt to interest immoderate Labour MPs.

Even with the tighter eligibility measures planned, sources said spending connected PIP would inactive emergence but not arsenic rapidly arsenic different forecast.

PIP is intended to assistance with the other surviving costs for radical who person a semipermanent carnal oregon intelligence wellness condition. Some recipients are successful enactment and reason it provides indispensable enactment enabling them to stay successful employment. But it besides goes to those who are heavy disabled and incapable to work.

A fig of MPs broadly supportive of payment betterment person told the BBC they person received assurances that severely disabled radical would not beryllium expected to enactment and would not suffer entitlement to benefits.

The expected changes to the payment strategy travel aft the authorities announced it would beryllium axing NHS England, the arms-length assemblage presently liable for moving the wellness work successful England.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has indicated helium plans to marque further cuts which helium says volition amended the ratio of the wellness service, penning successful the Sunday Telegraph that determination is "far much alteration to come".

He said "hundreds" of authoritative bodies had been identified arsenic "cluttering the diligent information and regulatory landscape".

"Patients and unit alike tin spot the inefficiency and discarded successful the wellness service. My squad and I are going done budgets enactment by line, with a relentless absorption connected slashing bloated bureaucracy," helium said.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said: "We person been wide that the existent payment strategy is breached and needs reform, truthful that it helps semipermanent sick and disabled radical who tin enactment to find employment, ensuring radical person the enactment they need, portion being just to the taxpayer.

"Without betterment much radical volition beryllium locked retired of jobs, contempt galore wanting to work. That is not conscionable atrocious for the economy, it's atrocious for radical too."