This letter was sent to Rachel Reeves Chancellor of the Exchequer for reply on 13th June 2025.
The open letter to the Chancellor from the SWU funded Austerity Action Group (AAG) has been signed by over 100 UK social workers. It expresses deep concerns about the government’s planned disability benefit cuts announced in its Spring Statement which, at the time the letter was written, the government estimated would push an additional 250,000 people into poverty.
After the Spring Statement the government published its “Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper” which proposed disability benefits cuts including changes to Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment (PIP), and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). The consultation on the Green Paper is due to end on June 30th but it does not cover the most crucial issues such as the changes to UC payment rates, the scrapping of the work capability assessment (WCA), or the PIP four points system. It should also be noted that the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment (UC & PIP) Bill that introduces key changes announced in the Green Paper has already been published and had its first reading in Parliament on June 18th.
The AAG letter reads:
Dear Chancellor,
Re: Welfare Reforms and Disability Benefit Cuts
As social workers, we are writing about the welfare changes in your Spring Statement.
Disability benefits such as Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and the health element of Universal Credit are lifelines for disabled people. They enable many to work and live independently. Making cuts to these benefits would have a catastrophic impact on disabled people across the country.
According to the government’s own figures, planned disability benefit cuts will hit 700,000 families who are already in poverty. These figures are in addition to the projected 250,000 people who will be newly driven below the poverty line by the cuts, as set out by the government’s impact assessment in March.
Further, those who lose PIP eligibility will also lose their “marker of need” with local councils and NHS services, making it nearly impossible for them to access help. This effectively erases some of the most vulnerable people from the system.
The government’s proposals to make changes to Personal Independence Payment and other benefits pose a threat to self-determination, choice. These are hard fought and won rights for disabled people who continue to face multiple forms of oppression and discrimination on a daily basis.
We expect these disability benefit cuts will likely lead to more deaths of claimants, increases in homelessness, child protection cases, and care admissions as disabled people can no longer afford to meet their needs at home.
As a profession committed to challenging injustice, we urge you to safeguard disability benefits from cuts. We fear the cost of cuts is too great. We urge you to meet with the Social Workers Union and frontline social workers to hear our profound concerns about the disabled people we support daily.
Over 1 million people pushed newly or into deeper poverty by the cuts
The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Poverty and Inequality has published a new report from its inquiry on the disproportionate impact of poverty and inequality on disabled people. The vast majority of submissions to the APPG raised concerns and criticisms of the proposals laid out in the government’s “Pathways to Work” Green Paper, warning that the planned reforms to disability benefits would have severe and far-reaching consequences. Respondents expressed fears that the proposals risk deepening poverty, increasing inequality, and further marginalising disabled people, particularly those already facing multiple forms of disadvantage.
The APPG on Poverty and Inequality’s report warns that the proposed sweeping cuts to disability benefits will result in:
- Up to 800,000 people could lose PIP support entirely
- Some individuals stand to lose up to £886 per month
- 250,000 people, including 50,000 children, will be pushed into poverty (government estimate)
- The proposals could result in a £1.1 billion cut to unpaid carers’ support
The Government has made it clear that its priority is growing the economy and part of the plan to do this involves supporting more people into work. However, cutting social security can’t incentivise people into jobs that don’t exist. New analysis by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation shows there are simply too few jobs for the Government’s argument to hold, and that the parts of the country that will be among the hardest hit by the cuts have fewer job opportunities.
The Government keeps saying the cuts will “focus support on those in the greatest need” but let’s hear the unspoken part that those who aren’t deemed in “in genuine need” – the undeserving, if you will – are going to have their benefits cut. Analysis from both the New Economics Foundation and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation shows that the Government’s original figure is an understatement and that closer to 350,000 people could be pushed into poverty by the cuts. In addition, the 700,000 families already in poverty are also forecast to be hit by planned disability benefit cuts – so that’s over 1 million people who could be pushed newly or deeper into poverty by these cuts.
Only MPs can stop the disability benefits cuts now
The Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment (UC & PIP) Bill has now entered Parliament and the second reading of the bill will be on Tuesday, 1st July 2025. This is when MPs will vote on disability benefit cuts.
MPs are being asked to vote on this bill despite:
- The Government analysis of the employment impact of these reforms is not due to be published until the autumn of 2025.
- The Government has not published an assessment of the impact of these reforms on health or care needs.
- The Government is still awaiting the findings of its review into PIP assessment.
- The Government’s “Keep Britain Working” independent review into the role of employers and government in boosting the employment of disabled people and people with long-term health conditions is not due to be published until the autumn of 2025.
It’s vital that you contact your MP and keep piling the pressure on.
123 Labour MPs now, including at least 11 committee chairs, have rebelled and signed a reasoned amendment which could kill the government’s UC & PIP Bill if it secures a majority. If selected by the Speaker, this amendment would give them a chance to oppose a second reading of the bill due to its very serious issues including pushing so many people into poverty, a lack of consultation, no impact assessments, and no analysis of employment impact.
According to the BBC, the Conservatives have indicated that they are yet to decide whether to support the bill and that they do not plan to share their decision before the vote on the bill takes place.
For MPs considering whether they should support this amendment, this joint briefing from 10 organisations including Scope, Citizens Advice, Mind, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and Trussell sets out the case to rethink cuts to disability benefits: https://ucpipbill.co.uk
What can I do?
There are many ways to get involved, and one simple and effective way is to contact your MP about it – today! Inclusion London has created a template letter that you can use to urge your MP to protect disabled people from harmful cuts to vital benefits: https://www.inclusionlondon.org.uk/campaigns-and-policy/act-now/stand-up-against-cuts-to-disability-benefits-write-to-your-mp-today
Citizens Advice has condemned the government’s Pathways To Work Green Paper in a hard-hitting report of their own entitled “Pathways To Poverty: How planned cuts to disability benefits will impact the people we support”. Citizens Advice is also running a free webinar on June 26th from 2pm – 3:15pm that will be an opportunity to think through the possible impact of cuts and wider reforms ahead of the main parliamentary stages and the deadline for green paper consultation responses: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/citizens-advice-data-insights-spotlight-on-disability-tickets-1365711141789
Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) and allies are organising a mass protest of Parliament on June 30th which is the day before the second reading of the bill: https://dpac.uk.net/2025/06/june-30th-and-july-3rd-protest-the-green-paper Some funding from DPAC is available for travel and other essential costs.
Whether you’re directly affected by the cuts or standing in solidarity, the #TakingThePIP campaign outlines the many meaningful ways you can take part in collective action: https://takingthepip.co.uk/how-you-can-help