The upcoming cut to Universal Credit will cut the health element in half for new claimants (£217/month instead of £430).
If you become disabled in the future or your health gets worse, you could get significantly less support than those claiming today, creating a 2-tiered system:
Great blog from @niamhredgate.bsky.social on PIP delays:
📉 Overall PIP backlog is reducing (good news!)
📈 But no. of people waiting for new claim decisions has increased
⏲️ And average waiting times for a new claim are now 20 weeks, the highest in nearly 4 years
Access to Work isn’t meeting its BIG potential! 🧵
New report out now: www.citizensadvice.org.uk/policy/publi...
@citizensadvice.bsky.social helps 900 people a day with issues relating to the disability benefit PIP. That's a sign that the system isn't working as it should.
The Timms review of PIP could be a chance to change that. We asked our advisers what it needs to get right: medium.com/p/5a3f881a08ee
No mention here of the upcoming cut to Universal Credit, which will cost 700,000+ disabled people an average of £3,000 a year.
From April, the health element of UC will be cut by nearly 50% for new claimants. Set out by @victoria-anns.bsky.social here: www.citizensadvice.org.uk/policy/publi...
The government is planning to merge two benefits to create 'unemployment insurance'.
But this would end indefinite awards currently paid to many disabled people claiming new style ESA, making them time-limited instead.
Great report from Craig breaking down the key issues
👇
Disabled people are routinely shut out of employment. My brilliant colleagues @beccastacey.bsky.social and @victoria-anns.bsky.social draw on the experience of the people we support to chart a way forward 👇
The Equality Act should protect disabled people at work
But @citizensadvice.bsky.social supported 5,393 people with health-related job discrimination in 2025 - roughly one every 1.5 hours
Mine and @victoria-anns.bsky.social's new report digs into the barriers our disabled clients face at work /1
New consumer research out by Citizens Advice - reference pricing (i.e. ‘was £25, now £15’) makes consumers less likely to make the right choice when shopping online, with consumers experiencing poor mental health and financial insecurity hit harder.
wearecitizensadvice.org.uk/beware-the-b...
Chart showing - Proportion of PIP assessments resulting in an award (left axis) and number of PIP assessments resulting in an award (right axis), by assessment channel: England and Wales, 2023-24
Reminder - increasing the number of face-to-face assessments for PIP is a red herring.
The success rates for face-to-face vs virtual assessments are very similar.
Claims for disability benefits are now falling, according to the OBR forecast
Sorry, no, Motability was not about 'helping the most vulnerable' - it was about providing people who need modified vehicles modified vehicles!
📰New @citizensadvice.bsky.social briefing ahead of the #Autumnbudget: The Government if failing private renters by freezing #LocalHousingAllowance #LHA.
New blog out today, as part of our work with @healthfoundation.bsky.social, looking at the unequal health impacts of the current system of housing cost support that fails to cover people's rent.
📢Young disabled people could face benefit cuts of more than £420 a month if government plans go ahead.
Young people deserve real support - not cuts that could push them into poverty.
New blog from me & @victoria-anns.bsky.social: medium.com/p/62015a6f0b12
There is no need for a moral panic about the UK's welfare system.
Far from perfect but recent discourse is nuts
Spending is controlled, not spiralling
Worklessness is near record lows
My column www.ft.com/content/ee67...
DWP plans to introduce a ‘support conversation’ for disabled claimants who don’t currently meet a work coach. My new paper explores how this conversation can be done effectively and avoid causing harm 🧵
www.citizensadvice.org.uk/policy/publi...
📢No more waiting on the 5 week wait, says my @citizensadvice.bsky.social colleague @julia-rt.bsky.social
The 5 week wait for a first UC payment means families end up in debt to DWP -leading to deductions from future payments that cause real hardship
This needs to change medium.com/citizens-adv...
Delays to benefit reassessments are leaving disabled people in limbo.
Some are waiting *over a year* to be reassessed after their health declined & are missing out on vital £ support in the meantime.
Great blog from @scollerton.bsky.social
wearecitizensadvice.org.uk/work-capabil...
Over 10,000 people have added their name to keep Hampstead women's pond inclusive.
It only takes 1 minute. Will you join them?
goodlawproject.org/petition/keep-hampstead-...
Chart from https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/policy/publications/benefit-cuts-dont-have-widespread-support/ showing that the majority of people do not support planned or expected social security cuts in the UK
📢 Benefit cuts don’t have widespread support
Promotional graphic by Citizens Advice announcing an online event titled "Data Insights Unravelling Complexity to raise living standards," addressing the overlapping issues people are going to them about. Scheduled for Thursday 25 September from 2-3pm with a hashtag #CADataInsights.
Our latest data shows that people’s problems are becoming more urgent and more complex.
And the systems designed to support them are harder to navigate than ever.
Join us on 25 September to hear from a panel of experts and explore our data ⤵️ https://bit.ly/41XFPsn #CADataInsights
Whilst the U turn on PIP cuts was a massive win, there's still lots of reasons we're concerned about the UC bill...
The changes in the bill cut disability support for new claimants, creating a 2 tier system, as outlined here by
@victoria-anns.bsky.social
New @citizensadvice.bsky.social briefing published with @julia-rt.bsky.social on how Universal Credit can adapt to promote income stability for working households. We set out policy options for the UC review to consider to reflect the reality of low paid employment.
🚨 We're hiring a Policy Research Assistant in the Families, Welfare and Work team at Citizens Advice🚨
Come and help us make the benefits system fairer (and work with lots of lovely people)!
Deadline to apply is 21st August: www.jobtrain.co.uk/citizensadvi...
The narrative around Universal Credit has long centred around work incentives.
This new briefing examines how effective UC is at encouraging employment – and how that focus may have overshadowed the deeper complexities of getting into work. 🧵
🔗 www.citizensadvice.org.uk/policy/publi...
Govt dropped cuts to PIP, but today's Committee report highlights MPs' concerns that many disabled people will be pushed into poverty by remaining cuts to Universal Credit's health element. In evidence to the inquiry I warned of the hardship this will cause. 1/5
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
🚨 New report alert 🚨
We’ve launched our first local deep dive research into health inequalities - starting in Chapeltown, Leeds.
What does geography have to do with health & work? Quite a lot, it turns out. 🧵
Why shouldn't someone assessed by DWP as too unwell to work & facing significant extra costs due to disabilities & poor health receive state support at least around the rate of a minimum wage salary?
I spoke to Ian Collins on TalkTV earlier about (misleading) reports today on this subject
