What Personal Independence Payment disability benefit cuts mean for you

What you need to know about proposed cuts to Personal Independence Payment benefits.

Disabled people have been targeted by cuts announced in the Budget on Wednesday.

Treasury figures show the Government is planning to save £4.4 billion by 2020/21 through the changes, which have already provoked widespread anger. So just what is changing?

What’s happening?

The Government is changing the way the daily living component of Personal Independence Payments (PIPs) is calculated from January 2017.

Those that claim PIP have to be assessed using a points system to determine what level of help they can receive. The payments can range between £21.80 and £139.75 per week.

The money is meant to help people cope with the extra cost of living with a disability and can be used to fund things like mobility cars and adapted baths and showers.

Who will be affected?

Under the plans announced in the Budget, people who use aids and appliances, like specialist toilet seats, handrails or even a walking stick to get dressed or go to the toilet could lose out.

That’s because the weight given to the use of aids and appliances in the assessment of two out of the 10 daily living activities – dressing and managing toilet needs - will be cut from two points to just one.

Disability campaigners say the single point difference could mean losing the benefit altogether or a significant reduction.

The Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) has said that the cuts would hit 370,000 people, with an average loss of a massive £3,500 a year.

Backlash

George Osborne is already facing a Tory rebellion over the planned changes.

Scores of Conservative MPs have warned the Government would suffer a defeat in the Commons if it tried to push the changes through.

The row echoes the outrage over tax credit cuts, which last year Osborne performed a U-turn on.

The Government now appears to be backtracking slightly, with education minister Nicky Morgan saying plans to cut disability benefits are just a "suggestion" and the proposals were "still under consultation".

With anger mounting on all sides we could see the Government back down once again.

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