Decision Maker:

Outcome: Recommendations Approved

Is Key Decision?: No

Is Callable In?: No

Date of Decision: July 17, 2025

Purpose:

Content: A vote was taken (unanimous) and the motion was carried as follows:   “Council notes: 3.7 million people in England and Wales receive Personal Independence Payments (PIP). PIP is a benefit not linked to being in work or out of work but is instead designed to help people with the additional unavoidable costs of having a disability. Many disabled people use PIP to cover the cost of getting to and from work, for paying for essential equipment and for meeting their social care charges.   Council further notes: Universal Credit contains a health-related element that currently supports 2.25 million people with severe health problems. Research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has found that 50% of recipients of the health element of Universal Credit are either unable to heat their home, are behind on their household bills or have low food security. There are 900,000 children living in households where someone receives the health-related Universal Credit.   Council notes and opposes the Government’s Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill, which would: Cut the health element of Universal Credit for new claimants from £97 a week to £50 a week from April 2026. Freeze the health element of Universal Credit for existing claimants until 2030 – meaning it will no longer increase with inflation, resulting in a real terms loss of income for over 2 million households. Restrict those under the age of 22 from claiming the health element of Universal Credit at all.   Council notes the bill as originally framed contained provisions, which it opposes, that would: Introduce stricter tests for those receiving Personal Independence Payments (PIP) under which disabled people may have their payments reduced by an average of £1720 a year. Result in an estimated 370,000 people with disabilities no longer qualify for PIP under the Government’s new assessment rules.   Council notes that the Government has offered concessions following opposition from MPs, but believes the concessions do not go far enough, as the bill will still cause hardship to new claimants and they have not been subject to an impact assessment.   Council believes: these changes amount to an attack on those living with disabilities and health conditions – who need PIP payments and health-related Universal Credit to live independent, dignified lives. freezing, reducing or removing these payments will have a catastrophic impact on millions of households who, due to disability and ill-health, face some of the highest rates of material deprivation in the UK.   Council resolves to: Ask the Lead Member for Communities and officers involved in the LIFT programme to consider how we can further support people in South Cambridgeshire who are likely to be affected by these changes. Request that the Leader and Lead Member for Communities to write to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: to express the council’s grave concerns about the impact of these changes; to call for the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill to be abandoned it its entirety; and to call for the Government to instead focus on sustainable and fair economic policies, rather than punishing those who need support the most. Further request that the Leader and Lead Member for Communities to write to local MPs to encourage them to continue to oppose these changes to the welfare system.”