With almost a quarter of the population reporting a disability in 2024, the country is in urgent need of a new conversation about how the benefits system can provide the continued and robust support people need. It must be a system that feels compassionate to claimants, is fair to the taxpayer and sustainable in the long term.
I also recognise there is understandable, ongoing anxiety over continuing elevated prices caused by the pandemic and Putin's weaponisation of energy. I was proud that, as part of the team leading the DWP and as Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work in the previous Conservative Government, we provided a cost-of-living support package worth £96 billion over 2022/23 and 2023/34. I am pleased to see the new Government has now continued with the Disability Champions work cross Government which I led and it’s vital disabled people feel properly supported and understood.
This package included £20 billion for two rounds of cost-of-living payments for over eight million households on eligible means-tested benefits, six million people on eligible disability benefits, and eight million pensioner households. Moreover, inflation was significantly more than halved from its peak of 11.1 per cent in November 2022 to two per cent in May 2024.
I do welcome that, at Autumn Budget, the Government allocated £1 billion to continue elements of the previous Government's support package, including an extension of the Household Support Fund. I was very proud to be the minister who delivered these interventions under the previous government and was also responsible for delivering Cost of Living payment support.
It is clear, however, that some people have significant extra costs relating to expensive equipment, home adaptations or other specific costs related to their disability. For people facing these costs, the last Government examined reforming the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) to tailor support by directly addressing certain extra costs, similar to approaches in some other countries.
Any changes to the welfare system are, however, a decision for the Government. I am aware that the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has promised to reform the current system, although there has not been much detail on this in the 'Getting Britain Working' White Paper published on 26th November 2024.
When further decisions on this are announced, I look forward to an opportunity to scrutinise their proposals in the best interest of my constituents. I will also continue to oppose the changes to winter fuel allowance which are callous and ill thought out, and very concerning to those older, disabled people among the many pensioners targeted by this policy.
