More than 710,000 disabled people are waiting for PIP decisions, with new claim wait times now at 20 weeks.
These delays can push people into poverty and worsen health conditions.
My new blog breaks down the backlog and why the Timms Review must not lose sight of delays and the harm they cause.
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
For future reference, this is what a Universal Credit review looks like 👇
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 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
There’s a risk that the Keep Britain Working plan will see good employers continuing to perform well and receiving more recognition for this. And that little will be done to change the behaviour of employers who are failing to support disabled workers.
wearecitizensadvice.org.uk/our-response...
New blog from me on the need to unfreeze LHA at the Budget
Govt has suggested in the past that DHP can mitigate impact of freezing LHA - but we find it's not remotely set up to do this
📰New @citizensadvice.bsky.social briefing ahead of the #Autumnbudget: The Government if failing private renters by freezing #LocalHousingAllowance #LHA.
More from @citizensadvice.bsky.social on Local Housing Allowance today...
Here's our pre-budget briefing by the brilliant @DrSarahHadfield.bsky.social
assets.ctfassets.net/mfz4nbgura3g...
Text reads, 'More than 10% of private renters are in a negative budget'.
As the #AutumnBudget approaches, we're calling on the Chancellor to unfreeze Local Housing Allowance (LHA) to support people on low incomes as private rents continue to soar.
Read more in our blog ⤵️
https://t.co/xTGMQRoFsk https://t.co/ijj5LHQyVC
📢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
Image shows an illustration of a yellow house. Text reads, 'The Renters' Rights Act is here. What does it mean for you?'
📢 Last night, the Renters Rights Act finally became law.
We’ve been campaigning for this for years. Read more about the bill and what it means for you ⤵️
wearecitizensadvice.org.uk/the-renters-rights-act-i...
Read more about why and how the budget needs to finally call time on the 5 week wait in our new blog⏱️ 👇
Through our frontline services, we see the 5 week wait lead to hardship all the time.
For Alara*, UC deductions made it difficult to provide for her daughter + were a barrier to work.
Like Alara*, 69% of those we helped w/ deductions caused by the 5WW this year also needed a foodbank referral.
The 5 week wait is a fundamental problem w/ UC, catching many between a rock + a hard place:
• Either struggling to afford essentials waiting for the 1st payment
• Or taking out a DWP loan to make ends meet, leaving households w/ even less UC income as the loan's repaid through monthly deductions
Great to see coverage of the 5 week wait in @the-independent.com, highlighting new Citizens Advice analysis of the huge scale of this issue
⚠️800,000 households repaying loans to DWP only needed because of 5 week wait for 1st UC payment
⚠️0.5M+ children growing up in households repaying these loans
Very encouraging to read that the Government is preparing to lift the two-child limit as part of its child poverty strategy, but it is disheartening that options short of scrapping it entirely are still being considered. Thread on why this would be the wrong choice for an ambitious strategy:
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
Important and thoughtful new report from @beccastacey.bsky.social on how the benefits system could be better at making work pay for disabled people
+ great to see this coverage in @bigissue.com from @cjayanetti.bsky.social 👇👇👇
Government’s claim that Universal Credit Bill will incentivise people to work is ‘wishful thinking’
@citizensadvice.bsky.social
www.rightsnet.org.uk/now/post/68056
Cuts to disability benefits weren’t totally averted!
🚨New report out today explaining why the Universal Credit Bill will harm disabled people and exploring who will be impacted by the cuts.
www.citizensadvice.org.uk/policy/publi...
🚨 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...
📢New briefing with @drsarahhadfield.bsky.social published today - looking at how UC’s rigid monthly model is often at odds with recipients’ working lives, and how + why the UC review could be a chance to fix this ⬇️
Raising state pension age is a surefire way of increasing spend on disability benefits
www.ft.com/content/1b30...
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...
🚨 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. 🧵
The government's concessions on disability benefits cuts are a good start but do nothing to help those who will need disability benefits in the future. Anyone can become disabled at any time and future claimants are no less deserving of support than existing claimants
Changes to UCPIP bill are result of campaigners & disabled people speaking out about the profound harm the govt was about to inflict.
However, the bill remains illogical & inherently unfair.
The govt should pause & come back with meaningful reform if serious about “fixing the foundations”.
