Kendall makes statement to MPs about welfare bill concessions
Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, is making a statement to MPs now about the welfare bill concessions.
There is a live feed at the top of the blog.
She started by making the case for reform. She said:
The welfare state must be fair, both for those who need support and for taxpayers, so it is sustainable for generations to come,
But the system we inherited from the party opposite is failing on all these fronts. It incentivises people to define themselves as incapable of work just to be able to afford to live, it then writes them off and denies them any help or support.
The result is 2.8 million of our fellow citizens now out of work due to long-term sickness, almost a million young people not in education, employment or training. That’s a staggering one in eight of all our young people.
Key events
Kendall says Pip claimants who get reassessed after November 2026 will be reassessed under new rules, not current ones
Kendall says Pip to be focused on those with ‘higher needs’ in future, as she again defends legislating before review concludes
Kendall confirms DWP to press ahead with 4-point Pip eligibility rule for new claimants ahead of review
Kendall suggests Tories hypocritical in talking about ‘two-tier welfare’ because they operated same approach too
Kendall says Pip review proposals to be implemented ‘as soon as possible’ after it reports in autumn 2026
Kendall makes statement to MPs about welfare bill concessions
Labour DWP committee chair Debbie Abrahams says she cannot support welfare bill in current form
DWP publishes terms for reference of Pip assessment review, saying it should be ‘single gateway to health-related benefits’
Kendall says DWP to spend extra £300m on what she says will be biggest disability employment support package ‘in generation’
Sadiq Khan says he still has ‘serious concerns’ about welfare bill
No 10 says latest DWP figures on poverty impact of benefit cuts don’t ‘reflect full picture’
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DWP explains why its update does not say what impact bill will have on number of disabled people in poverty
Benefit cuts will have ‘negligible’ impact on number of children and pensioners in poverty due to concessions, DWP says
DWP says 150,000 more people pushed into poverty by benefit cuts – not 250,000 as forecast said before U-turn
Plaid Cymru urges Labour MPs to vote against welfare bill
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Extra cost of being disabled in UK to rise by almost 12% in five years, says Scope report
Pip assessment review to be ‘co-produced with disabled people’, DWP says, as new concessions being set out
Minister refuses to rule out whip being withdrawn from Labour MPs who rebel over welfare bill
Kendall steps up efforts to win over Labour welfare rebels, as Burnham tells MPs to vote against ‘unfair’ bill
Tonia Antoniazzi (Lab) said the worst problems for claimaints in Gower was the incompetence of Capita, the company that carries out Pip assessments.
Kendall asked Antoniazzi to send her details. This was why a review was needed, she said.
Darren Paffey (Lab) asked if carers would be considered by the Timms review.
“Absolutely,” Kendall replied.
Helen Hayes, the Labour chair of the eduation committee and another one of the lead signatories on the Hillier reasoned amendment, asked Kendall to confirm that some people will get Pip under rules that come in before the Timms review concludes. How long would that go on for?
Kendall said she addressed this earlier. (See 4.30pm.) The Timms review would report by next autumn, she said. And the government would try to implement the recommendations as quickly as possible.
Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader, asked if Kendall was really happy about having a two-tier system.
Kendall said “there are many differences in the benefit system already, where people are in different rates and different roles depending on the time that they came into the system.” This applied under previous governments too, she said.
Chi Onwurah (Lab) said 31% of people in the north-east have disabilities – the highest rate in the country.
Kendall said disabled people in the north-east would be fully involved in the review.
Stella Creasy (Lab) said she did not doubt Kendall’s commitment to getting this right. But she said these plans would breach the government’s commitments under the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities.
Kendall said she would not be making any proposals that were against the law.
Labour’s Yuan Yang said disabled people were paying the cost of the pandemic. She asked if the Timms review would have the “fiscal baseline” of the reforms, including the four-point rule. If that was the case, how could that be viewed as co-production?
Kendall did not address the fiscal point, but she said she genuinely wanted to involve disabled people in the review. And it would consider points, she said.
Kendall says Pip claimants who get reassessed after November 2026 will be reassessed under new rules, not current ones
Vicky Foxcroft, who resigned as a Labour whip over the bill, asked if the Timms review would have the power to review the budget savings being achieved by these cuts. And she asked what would happen if someone requested a reassessment because of worsening health conditions. Would they be reassessed under the old criteria or the new one?
Kendall said that the Timms review was not being driven by the need to save money.
(That did not fully address the question. Foxcroft wanted to know if it would be able to recommend more spending.)
And Kendall said people can request a reassessment. If that happens before November 2026, that will be under the old system. After that, it will be under the new system, she said.
Kendall says Pip to be focused on those with ‘higher needs’ in future, as she again defends legislating before review concludes
Sarah Owen, chair of the Commons women and equalities committee and one of the MPs who signed the Hillier reasoned amendment, again asked why the government is legislating before the outcome of the review into the problem the legislation is supposed to address. She said:
What is the logic of making changes to future claimants before finishing the Timms review, now co-produced for disabled people? Could this lead to not just two tiers, but three tiers – those existing claimants, those new claimants who will lose out and those post Timms review?
Kendall stressed that existing claimants were being protected. In future, it wanted to aim Pip at those with “higher needs”, she said.
Kirsty Blackman (SNP) asked why Labour did not include these plans in its manifesto.
Kendall said reforming the benefits system was in the manifesto.
Marie Tidball (Lab) said she has been saying since April she could not support these plans. Having no public consultation meant disabled people were ignored. She said not doing that meant the DWP was not compliant with the Equality Act.
Kendall said Tidball was a powerful voice. She said the Timms review would be co-produced with disabled people.
Tidball, who is disabled, published this article for the Guardian yesterday on her opposition to the bill.
UPDATE: Tidball said:
Our manifesto committed to championing the rights of disabled people, and to the principle of working with disabled people. Having no public consultation on these plans excludes the voices of disabled people.
This is not just about process, this makes disabled people worse off. The principle of fairness means disabled people have a legitimate expectation to be consulted, and in order to fulfil the Equality Act section 149 public sector equality duty.
Why did the Department for Work and Pensions choose not to consult with disabled people on Pip proposals, and what work will her department do to win back the trust of disabled people?
And Kendall replied:
We are absolutely committed to co-producing this Pip review led by Sir Stephen Timms. She may know we are also setting up collaboration committees on access to work, and on pathways to work, to make sure we really get this right.
I look forward to meeting with her and many other disabled people and their organisations to absolutely make sure we get this right as we go forward.
Labour’s Rachael Maskell said she welcomed progress, but she could not countenance disabled people being denied support, or 150,000 more people being pushed into poverty.
She asked why MPs were voting on the bill tomorrow when the Timms review of the Pip assessment might recommend changes.
Kendall said no existing claimants would lose out. There was clear evidence employment programmes can get sick and disabled people into work, she said.
Meg Hillier, the Labour chair of the Treasury committee, who tabled the reasoned amendment against the bill signed by more than 120 MPs, asked Kendall to justify the four-points rule being introduced. (See 4.06pm.)
Kendall said the government had to get more people into work, and focus the benefit on those with a “higher need”.
She stressed that existing claimants were being protected.
