A group of Labour MPs are looking to block the Government’s controversial welfare reforms whilst 25,000 people claim Personal Independence Payments (PIP) in Hull.
In March, the Government’s Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Liz Kendall MP, announced a set of bold welfare reform plans which the Government hoped would save over £5 billion a year by the end of the decade.
The planned reforms, which make up the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill, seek to raise the barrier for entry of PIP which is paid to people with long term conditions or disabilities who struggle to perform everyday tasks. The bill would make it more difficult for disabled people with less severe conditions to claim the benefit.
Ms Kendall’s announced changes would also alter the way PIP claimants are reassessed. People with conditions that will never improve will no longer need to be reassessed, whilst reassessments for other claimants will become more frequent.
The Government argues that reform to the welfare system is necessary in part due to the increasing number of people claiming PIP. However, a group of over 100 rebel Labour Party MPs are hoping to block their Government’s bill by signing an amendment that argues that an estimated 250,000 people will be pushed into poverty as a result of the changes, including 50,000 children.
Labour constituencies are overwhelmingly more reliant on PIP than those of any other party. A total of 47 of the 50 constituencies with the highest proportion of working-age people receiving PIP are currently Labour held seats, with other three seats being traditional Labour strongholds currently held by Reform UK.
Across the three Hull constituencies, 25,100 people claim PIP. That’s about the same as the capacity of Hull City and Hull FC’s MKM Stadium (25,586).
Karl Turner’s Hull East constituency has the largest proportion PIP-claiming residents in the area at 15 per cent. Within that one constituency alone there are 9,722 people claiming the payments, a figure which has risen by over 5,433 since 2019. In both of the two other constituencies in the city, Hull West & Haltemprice and Hull North & Cottingham, 11 per cent of residents claim PIP.
By: Andrew Spence, LDRS
