Labour ministers said these measures would save at least £5 billion. However, independent forecaster the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has reportedly estimated that the cuts will only save £3.4bn.
The OBR has found that the savings principally come from reducing the PIP awards for around 800,000 people. That is 16% of people currently getting PIP who will lose at least some of their benefit.
Approximately 400,000 of these people will lose their PIP entirely due to not receiving the mobility component of PIP. The standard rate of the PIP daily living component is currently £3,800 a year.
Anela Anwar, chief executive of anti-poverty charity Z2K, said: “It beggars belief that the government has announced yet more panicked cuts to vital support for disabled people. It only underlines what was already clear: the government’s poorly targeted cuts have been thrown together at the last minute, without serious regard for the impact they will have on disabled people.
“No government that is serious about meaningful reform would press ahead with these hopelessly ill-conceived and dangerous plans. We need a social security system that we can all rely on in times of need, not more panicked cuts.”
New data published alongside the Spring Statement shows that 250,000 additional people, including 50,000 children, will be pushed into poverty by the government’s plans to cut benefits.
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Mikey Erhardt, campaigner at Disability Rights UK, said: “We are shocked at reports the government is planning further cuts to the benefits that disabled people rely on. Freezing universal credit for new claimants will drive more disabled people into even deeper poverty – particularly if the government pursues the harsh measures around PIP and the health component unveiled just last week.
“MPs can block these dangerous cuts. We urge them to publicly commit to voting against reducing disabled people’s incomes – both those announced today and those in last week’s green paper.
“Labour MPs in particular must ask themselves why their cabinet colleagues are demonising and punishing disabled people for the economic failures of successive governments rather than looking to the rich to plug the funding gap.”
Disabled people are already three times more likely to face hunger, and over three quarters of people in receipt of universal credit and disability benefits are already struggling to afford the essentials such as food.
Helen Barnard, director of policy, research and information at Trussell, said: ”The insistence by the Treasury on driving through record cuts to disabled people’s social security to balance the books is both shocking and appalling. People at food banks are telling us they are terrified how they’ll survive.
“These brutal cuts to already precarious incomes won’t help more disabled people find work, but they will risk forcing more people to skip meals and turn to food banks to get by. Cuts come at a cost. Driving up hunger and hardship means more spending on already struggling public services, with increased hospital and GP visits a very likely outcome of these actions.
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“The government says people voted for change, but we know that seven in 10 voters across political parties agree the social security for disabled people should at least be enough to cover essential living costs. This is a change for the worse, and it is disabled people who will pay the price.”
Three in four people receiving universal credit and disability benefits are already struggling to afford essentials, research from Trussell shows.
Jen Clark, economic and social rights lead at Amnesty International UK, said: “The protection that social security provides should ensure anyone can eat and live safely, no matter their circumstances. This is a human right, not a gift for politicians to give or take away. It’s a right that the UK has committed to via international laws that this government boasts we lead the world in respecting.
“By implementing the biggest cuts to disability support since the 2010 austerity programme, the government is forcing many more people to rely on food banks and plunging into debt to eat, stay warm, and prevent their children from living in poverty, creating a devastating domino effect on lives as rights are removed one after another.”
Charles Gillies, senior policy officer at the MS Society and policy co-chair at the Disability Benefits Consortium, added: “The chancellor has chosen to double down on harmful benefits cuts, despite warnings. This approach will push more disabled people into poverty and worsen people’s health.
“Since the cuts were announced last week, we’ve seen an outpouring of fear and dread from disabled people, including many with MS. And the extra cuts announced today will heighten alarm even further, largely hitting those who are unable to work and rely on these benefits to survive.
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“People are wondering how they’ll continue to cover their basic living expenses and the extra costs of their disability – like visits from carers to help with things like washing, cooking and going to the toilet. The government has a moral obligation to scrap these cuts before the real damage is done.”
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