Thank you to everyone who has contacted me about the Second Reading of the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill, which took place on July 1st.
As many of my constituents will be aware, I have had huge concerns about this Bill from the start.
We all know that the benefits system is in desperate need of reform. While I absolutely understand the need to address the ever-increasing welfare bill, I have disagreed that the cuts to PIP and the health element of Universal Credit initially proposed in the bill should be part of the solution.
The impact assessment estimated that these initial proposals would have pushed 250,000 people – including 50,000 children – into poverty. I was also concerned by the lack of consultation with disabled people’s organisations.
I knew that I would never be able to vote for these cuts or persuade others to do the same, so on June 19th I resigned as a Government Whip.
In the days between my resignation and the Bill’s Second Reading, I – along with many, many Labour colleagues – fought hard to ensure Ministers listened to our concerns. I signed a reasoned amendment to the Bill which called on the Government to reconsider its proposals and ensure Ministers took the time to get these reforms right.
Ahead of Second Reading, the Government announced the following concessions:
- Legal protections for current PIP claimants that the criteria under which they are assessed will not change in future.
- No changes to PIP eligibility until the Timms review of the PIP assessment is completed.
- Complete removal of Clause 5, which set the requirement for claimants to score 4 points in at least one category in order to receive PIP.
- Real and meaningful co-production of the changes with disabled people
In addition, the Bill provides £1 billion of investment for workplace schemes to support disabled people to get into work (if they are able to do so). The standard rate of Universal Credit will also be uprated to provide a safety net for those who need it.
Winning these concessions was a huge victory for Labour backbenchers and the Bill is now in a much better form than it was two weeks ago. In light of this, I decided to vote in favour of the Bill proceeding to its next stage.
It now goes into Committee Stage, where the proposals will be looked at in more detail and possible changes proposed.
Please rest assured that I will continue to follow its progress very closely and will only support it at Third Reading (its last stage in the Commons) if the final proposals reflect the commitments Ministers have made.
I will also be looking for Ministers to take these commitments forward and ensure we have co-production right across government.
I am glad the Government listened to our concerns and hope for future engagement so we can ensure we get this right, regain the trust of disabled people and create a society in which disabled people are valued and can thrive and live with dignity and respect.
Watch the speech I gave at Second Reading below.