Agenda item

Background

The current Labour government has proposed cuts to disability benefits (especially Personal Independence Payments) and changes to the Access to Work funding that could leave Cambridgeshire residents destitute.

Further more it is proposed that these cuts will be put to a vote without waiting for a full report on the impact of the proposed cuts.

The purpose of this motion is not to draw attention to the cruelty of the proposed cuts. That is so blindingly obvious that no motion is required.

The purpose of this motion is to contend that the proposed cuts don’t save money. All they do is transfer the costs to hard pressed local services, the NHS and local economies.

These cuts are not just cruelty but stupid cruelty.

 

Active Motion

This council notes that the disability cut proposals are not just a threat to disabled residents and their families, although these are quite bad enough. There are also likely to be wider adverse impacts on our city. These include:

·      Local health services -one in 7 hospital beds are already occupied by patients who no longer have a medical need but are trapped in hospital because care is not available

·      The immediate local economy – disabled residents spend most of their income in local shops and on local services

·      Increased rent arrears among council tenants

·      Increased pressure on social services --the county council has the same statutory responsibilities under the Care Act 2014 but residents’ ability to contribute to care costs is reduced

·      Increased pressure on county council finances -adult social care has to be prioritised by law so funds available for other services are reduced

·      Increased use of food banks and food hubs -75% of food bank visits are from households with one or more disabled members

The council proposes to write to the ministers concerned, Liz Kendall and Rachel Reeves and ask local MPs, Daniel Zeichner and Pippa Heylings to co-sign the letter

The council’s letter will ask for the proposed cuts to be abandoned or at the very least paused until a full impact assessment can be undertaken.

The council’s letter will also ask whether the proposed cuts will really result in savings or merely transfer the costs from central government budgets to those of the NHS, local councils and struggling local economies.

 

Background Notes

Access to Work (“AtW”)

1              The Access to Work scheme is intended to help people with disabilities or long term health conditions get work and stay in work. Full details of the scheme are here: https://www.gov.uk/access-to-work

2              Critics of the Access to Work scheme have drawn attention to the long wait for scheme payments and unexpected refusal of funding The target time to process new schemes is 4 weeks but the average wait is now 12 weeks, up from 8 weeks at the 2024 General Election.

3              It is now proposed that the type of equipment that can be funded, the duration of awards, the use of support workers and the pay rate for support workers will be reduced.

4              It has been claimed that some of these changes have already been put into practice even through the disability consultation is still open.

5              It seems clear that the cuts to Access to Work will make it harder for people to get and keep jobs or achieve self employment.

 

Personal Independence Payments (“PIP”)

 

1              PIP is designed to help with extra living costs if you have both:

a.    A long term health condition or disability; and

b.    Difficulty doing essential every day tasks or getting around because of that condition

2              PIP is not means tested and 1 in 6 PIP claimants are in paid work.

3              20 % of UK residents has a disability or long term health condition but only 8% claim PIP

4              PIP is a working age benefit although 15% of claimants are over working age . This is because if PIP is awarded before retirement, entitlement continues afterwards. The increase in pension age has meant that more people are able to claim.

5              PIP is considered to be a hard to get benefit. The success rate is 52 % and the fraud rate is 0.02 per cent.

6              PIP replaced a previous benefit called Disability Living Allowance (“DLA”). The transition is still ongoing and some Cambridge residents are still on DLA not PIP.

7              Residents who lose out on PIP also lose access to blue badges, free bus passes, discounted rail travel and carer’s allowance and make it harder to access other disability services and concessions.

8              Cambridge has one of the lowest rates of PIP claims in the UK at 4%, compared to 7% for East of England and 8% for the UK. This may reflect a healthier, more youthful population or simply that many residents are still on DLA. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/constituency-data-personal-independence-payment-2

9              However, even in Cambridge, there are 4,300 residents receiving PIP expected to lose a total of £7.5 million in PIP from the proposed changes. This is based on 87% of people on standard PIP and 13 % of people on enhanced PIP losing PIP which is in turn based on FoI figures produced by DWP. https://www.healthequitynorth.co.uk/app/uploads/PIP-REPORT-1.pdf

10           The National Audit Office July 2024 report estimates that £870 million in PIP goes unclaimed every year.

 

Councillor Bennett proposed and Councillor Tong seconded the following motion: 

 

Background

The current Labour government has proposed cuts to disability benefits (especially Personal Independence Payments) and changes to the Access to Work funding that could leave Cambridgeshire residents destitute.

 

Furthermore, it is proposed that these cuts will be put to a vote without waiting for a full report on the impact of the proposed cuts.

 

The purpose of this motion is not to draw attention to the cruelty of the proposed cuts. That is so blindingly obvious that no motion is required.

 

The purpose of this motion is to contend that the proposed cuts don’t save money. All they do is transfer the costs to hard-pressed local services, the NHS and local economies.

 

These cuts are not just cruelty but stupid cruelty.

 

 

Active Motion

This council notes that the disability cut proposals are not just a threat to disabled residents and their families, although these are quite bad enough. There are also likely to be wider adverse impacts on our city. These include:

·      Local health services - one in 7 hospital beds are already occupied by patients who no longer have a medical need but are trapped in hospital because care is not available.

·      The immediate local economy – disabled residents spend most of their income in local shops and on local services.

·      Increased rent arrears among council tenants.

·      Increased pressure on social services - the county council has the same statutory responsibilities under the Care Act 2014 but residents’ ability to contribute to care costs is reduced.

·      Increased pressure on county council finances - adult social care has to be prioritised by law so funds available for other services are reduced.

·      Increased use of food banks and food hubs - 75% of food bank visits are from households with one or more disabled members.

 

The council proposes to write to the ministers concerned, Liz Kendall and Rachel Reeves and ask local MPs, Daniel Zeichner and Pippa Heylings to co-sign the letter.

 

The council’s letter will ask for the proposed cuts to be abandoned or at the very least paused until a full impact assessment can be undertaken.

 

The council’s letter will also ask whether the proposed cuts will really result in savings or merely transfer the costs from central government budgets to those of the NHS, local councils and struggling local economies.

 

Background Notes

Access to Work (“AtW”)

1              The Access to Work scheme is intended to help people with disabilities or long term health conditions get work and stay in work. Full details of the scheme are here: https://www.gov.uk/access-to-work

2              Critics of the Access to Work scheme have drawn attention to the long wait for scheme payments and unexpected refusal of funding. The target time to process new schemes is 4 weeks but the average wait is now 12 weeks, up from 8 weeks at the 2024 General Election.

3              It is now proposed that the type of equipment that can be funded, the duration of awards, the use of support workers and the pay rate for support workers will be reduced.

4              It has been claimed that some of these changes have already been put into practice even though the disability consultation is still open.

5              It seems clear that the cuts to Access to Work will make it harder for people to get and keep jobs or achieve self employment.

 

Personal Independence Payments (“PIP”)

 

1              PIP is designed to help with extra living costs if you have both:

a.    A long-term health condition or disability; and

b.    Difficulty doing essential everyday tasks or getting around because of that condition

2              PIP is not means tested and 1 in 6 PIP claimants are in paid work.

3              20% of UK residents have a disability or long-term health condition but only 8% claim PIP

4              PIP is a working age benefit, although 15% of claimants are over working age. This is because if PIP is awarded before retirement, entitlement continues afterwards. The increase in pension age has meant that more people are able to claim.

5              PIP is considered to be a hard to get benefit. The success rate is 52% and the fraud rate is 0.02 per cent.

6              PIP replaced a previous benefit called Disability Living Allowance (“DLA”). The transition is still ongoing, and some Cambridge residents are still on DLA not PIP.

7              Residents who lose out on PIP also lose access to blue badges, free bus passes, discounted rail travel and carer’s allowance and make it harder to access other disability services and concessions.

8              Cambridge has one of the lowest rates of PIP claims in the UK at 4%, compared to 7% for East of England and 8% for the UK. This may reflect a healthier, more youthful population or simply that many residents are still on DLA. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/constituency-data-personal-independence-payment-2

9              However, even in Cambridge, there are 4,300 residents receiving PIP expected to lose a total of £7.5 million in PIP from the proposed changes. This is based on 87% of people on standard PIP and 13 % of people on enhanced PIP losing PIP which is in turn based on FoI figures produced by DWP. https://www.healthequitynorth.co.uk/app/uploads/PIP-REPORT-1.pdf

10           The National Audit Office July 2024 report estimates that £870 million in PIP goes unclaimed every year.

 

Councillor Wade proposed and Councillor Smart seconded the following amendment to motion (deleted text struck through and additional text underlined):

 

Background

The current Labour government has proposed cuts to disability benefits (especially Personal Independence Payments) and changes to the Access to Work funding that could leave Cambridgeshire residents destitute.

Further more it is proposed that these cuts will be put to a vote without waiting for a full report on the impact of the proposed cuts.

The purpose of this motion is not to draw attention to the cruelty of the proposed cuts. That is so blindingly obvious that no motion is required.

The purpose of this motion is to contend that the proposed cuts don’t save money. All they do is transfer the costs to hard pressed local services, the NHS and local economies.

These cuts are not just cruelty but stupid cruelty.

Active Motion

This council notes that the disability cut proposals are not just a threat to disabled residents and their families, although these are quite bad enough. There are also likely to be wider adverse impacts on our city. These include:

· Local health services -one in 7 hospital beds are already occupied by patients who no longer have a medical need but are trapped in hospital because care is not available

· The immediate local economy – disabled residents spend most of their income in local shops and on local services

· Increased rent arrears among council tenants

· Increased pressure on social services --the county council has the same statutory responsibilities under the Care Act 2014 but residents’ ability to contribute to care costs is reduced

· Increased pressure on county council finances -adult social care has to be prioritised by law so funds available for other services are reduced

· Increased use of food banks and food hubs -75% of food bank visits are from households with one or more disabled members

The council proposes to write to the ministers concerned, Liz Kendall and Rachel Reeves and ask local MPs, Daniel Zeichner and Pippa Heylings to co-sign the letter

The council’s letter will ask for the proposed cuts to be abandoned or at the very least paused until a full impact assessment can be undertaken.

The council’s letter will also ask whether the proposed cuts will really result in savings or merely transfer the costs from central government budgets to those of the NHS, local councils and struggling local economies.

Background Notes

Access to Work (“AtW”)

1 The Access to Work scheme is intended to help people with disabilities or long term health conditions get work and stay in work. Full details of the scheme are here: https://www.gov.uk/access-to-work

2 Critics of the Access to Work scheme have drawn attention to the long wait for scheme payments and unexpected refusal of funding The target time to process new schemes is 4 weeks but the average wait is now 12 weeks, up from 8 weeks at the 2024 General Election.

3 It is now proposed that the type of equipment that can be funded, the duration of awards, the use of support workers and the pay rate for support workers will be reduced.

4 It has been claimed that some of these changes have already been put into practice even through the disability consultation is still open.

5 It seems clear that the cuts to Access to Work will make it harder for people to get and keep jobs or achieve self employment.

Personal Independence Payments (“PIP”)

1 PIP is designed to help with extra living costs if you have both:

a. A long term health condition or disability; and

b. Difficulty doing essential every day tasks or getting around because of that condition

2 PIP is not means tested and 1 in 6 PIP claimants are in paid work.

3 20 % of UK residents has a disability or long term health condition but only 8% claim PIP

4 PIP is a working age benefit although 15% of claimants are over working age . This is because if PIP is awarded before retirement, entitlement continues afterwards. The increase in pension age has meant that more people are able to claim.

5 PIP is considered to be a hard to get benefit. The success rate is 52 % and the fraud rate is 0.02 per cent.

6 PIP replaced a previous benefit called Disability Living Allowance (“DLA”). The transition is still ongoing and some Cambridge residents are still on DLA not PIP.

7 Residents who lose out on PIP also lose access to blue badges, free bus passes, discounted rail travel and carer’s allowance and make it harder to access other disability services and concessions.

8 Cambridge has one of the lowest rates of PIP claims in the UK at 4%, compared to 7% for East of England and 8% for the UK. This may reflect a healthier, more youthful population or simply that many residents are still on DLA. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/constituency-data-personal-independence-payment-2

9 However, even in Cambridge, there are 4,300 residents receiving PIP expected to lose a total of £7.5 million in PIP from the proposed changes. This is based on 87% of people on standard PIP and 13 % of people on enhanced PIP losing PIP which is in turn based on FoI figures produced by DWP. https://www.healthequitynorth.co.uk/app/uploads/PIP-REPORT-1.pdf

10 The National Audit Office July 2024 report estimates that £870 million in PIP goes unclaimed every year.

 

This Council believes in the dignity of all people and their right to respect and equality of opportunity.

 

This Council is a Disability Confident employer and is committed to recruiting, retaining and supporting disabled employees. The Council aims to remove barriers, resolve issues relating to disability and consider individual needs. This includes taking positive steps towards promoting equality of opportunity, reasonable adjustments and accommodations, inclusion for all and promoting positive attitudes towards disabled people.

 

The Government’s ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working’ Green Paper was published in March, and is out for public consultation until 30 June. This Council encourages residents to participate in the public consultation on the Green Paper.

 

This Council notes that:

 

Cambridge has one of the lowest rates of PIP claims in the UK at 4%, compared to 7% for the East of England and 8% for the UK.

This Council has three-year core grant funding agreements with Cambridge & District Citizens Advice and with Cambridge Ethnic Community Forum to provide independent advice and advocacy to residents on a range of subjects, including on benefits, as well as with Cambridge Council for Voluntary Service to provide infrastructure support to the voluntary and community sector. Across its multi-year grants, the Council has allocated £466,113 for the year 2025-26.

 

Cambridge & District Citizens’ Advice (CDCA) statistics show that, for the first half of 2024/25, general help and advice was given on 10,987 issues to 7,950 clients, and the top issue people were seeking advice for was benefits. The top benefit issue was PIP.

 

The total income gains achieved by CDCA for those seeking advice were £2,149,832.00.

 

In the last year, 414 City residents received specialist benefit advice – 54% of these related to benefit applications.

 

From 1 April to 30 September 2024, the CDCA benefits team completed 21 appeals lodged with the Courts and Tribunals Service. 20 of the 21 appeals were won.

 

This Council resolves to:

·      continue the Council’s strategic partnership work with Citizens’ Advice and Cambridge Ethnic Community Forum to support residents to maximise their benefits.

·      work to ensure that all residents are aware of the opportunities for support to maximise their benefits, including by sharing all the relevant information with other stakeholders in the city including landlords and GP surgeries.

·      offer all tenants in sheltered accommodation the opportunity to meet with the Independent Living Service to conduct an income maximisation check, particularly for tenants who don’t currently access to Council support services.

·      submit a response to the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper.

 

The amendment was carried by 22 votes to 14.

 

Resolved (by 22 votes to 0 with 14 abstentions) that:

 

This Council believes in the dignity of all people and their right to respect and equality of opportunity.

 

This Council is a Disability Confident employer and is committed to recruiting, retaining and supporting disabled employees. The Council aims to remove barriers, resolve issues relating to disability and consider individual needs. This includes taking positive steps towards promoting equality of opportunity, reasonable adjustments and accommodations, inclusion for all and promoting positive attitudes towards disabled people.

 

The Government’s ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working’ Green Paper was published in March, and is out for public consultation until 30 June. This Council encourages residents to participate in the public consultation on the Green Paper.

 

This Council notes that:

 

Cambridge has one of the lowest rates of PIP claims in the UK at 4%, compared to 7% for the East of England and 8% for the UK.

 

This Council has three-year core grant funding agreements with Cambridge & District Citizens Advice and with Cambridge Ethnic Community Forum to provide independent advice and advocacy to residents on a range of subjects, including on benefits, as well as with Cambridge Council for Voluntary Service to provide infrastructure support to the voluntary and community sector. Across its multi-year grants, the Council has allocated £466,113 for the year 2025-26.

 

Cambridge & District Citizens’ Advice (CDCA) statistics show that, for the first half of 2024/25, general help and advice was given on 10,987 issues to 7,950 clients, and the top issue people were seeking advice for was benefits. The top benefit issue was PIP.

 

The total income gains achieved by CDCA for those seeking advice were £2,149,832.00.

 

In the last year, 414 City residents received specialist benefit advice – 54% of these related to benefit applications.

 

From 1 April to 30 September 2024, the CDCA benefits team completed 21 appeals lodged with the Courts and Tribunals Service. 20 of the 21 appeals were won.

 

This Council resolves to:

·      continue the Council’s strategic partnership work with Citizens’ Advice and Cambridge Ethnic Community Forum to support residents to maximise their benefits.

·      work to ensure that all residents are aware of the opportunities for support to maximise their benefits, including by sharing all the relevant information with other stakeholders in the city including landlords and GP surgeries.

·      offer all tenants in sheltered accommodation the opportunity to meet with the Independent Living Service to conduct an income maximisation check, particularly for tenants who don’t currently access to Council support services.

·      submit a response to the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper.