'Unworkable' PIP voucher changes must be ruled out, DWP warned

The government's refusal to confirm whether it will potentially replace personal independent payment (PIP) benefit payments with vouchers in the coming months has been called "utterly ridiculous".

Changing PIP from a cash payment to a voucher or one off-grant is a "dangerous idea", one leading disability charity has said. It follows comments from work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall on Wednesday that the government had not yet ruled out the controversial plans.

How have we got here?

Earlier this year, the Conservative government published a 'green paper' on PIP reform. A green paper is a consultation document that is produced by the government when it is considering bringing in a new law.

The paper proposed looking at a number of measures, including that disability benefits and cash payments are replaced with vouchers or one-off grants.

In October, the Labour government suggested it would drop the proposals — only to clarify a few days later that it was considering "all responses" to the consultation.

Speaking to the work and pensions committee, Kendall said she understood the vouchers were "a real concern" for people claiming PIP. But she said she would not provide any more detail until she has had "proper discussions with people".

The DWP is expected to put forward its reforms in spring 2025.

“I was very struck particularly by the comments people made around shifting support to vouchers and where many organisations said their real concern was that it took away people’s autonomy and particularly when services are so stretched and tight,” Kendall said.

“I will be putting forward our own proposals to reform sickness and disability benefits.

“This is extremely difficult and I know people really want more detail, but we won’t do that until we’re absolutely ready and have had the proper discussions with people.”

'An utterly ridiculous idea'

The "lack of clarity" around the plans for PIP has angered charities and is fuelling "anxiety and confusion among disabled people", David Southgate, from disability equality charity Scope, told Yahoo News.

Some of the government's wider plans to reduce the UK's benefits bill have sparked concern among claimants, including the Fraud, Error and Debt Bill, which will grant officials the power to check benefit claimants’ bank accounts for fraud.

Others have pointed out that the system to claim PIP is already incredibly complex and gruelling.

Read more: Simple-to-use tool launched to help users apply for PIP

While the PIP system "desperately needs overhauling", Southgate does not believe vouchers are the answer.

“Changing PIP to vouchers is a dangerous idea which needs to be ruled out once and for all," he told Yahoo News. “Life costs a lot more when you’re disabled, and PIP is a vital source of financial support. It is flawed and does urgently need overhauling, but the government must work with disabled people to make PIP work better for those who rely on it.”

Vouchers are "unworkable" because "there are so many different needs" that PIP covers, Linda Burnip, a spokesperson for Disabled People Against Cuts told Yahoo News.

"It would also remove any freedom of choice from disabled people and ultimately reduce the value of any PIP award. Frankly it's an utterly ridiculous idea," she added.

Simon Keenan is one of the 3.4 million disabled people who claim PIP. He said that replacing cash with vouchers is a "foolish and ill thought out".

The 43-year-old from West Sussex told Yahoo News: "The very idea of taking the much needed support of personal independence payment (PIP) and changing that cash into vouchers is in direct conflict with the support's namesake. How can one be independent when using vouchers?

"It is a foolish and ill thought out notion by a grossly negligent Conservative Party who were rightly removed from government. The way in which Labour are entertaining these callous ideas is incredibly telling," he added.

A DWP spokesperson said: “We are committed to championing the rights of disabled people so their views and voices are at the heart of all we do. We are now considering the responses to the consultation.”