Local fund to replace Pip for most young disabled people under Milburn plans
Young people with disabilities will lose their personal independence payments and must apply to a local fund for short-term expenses under plans by Alan Milburn.
Under-25s will be barred from claiming Pip and the health element of universal credit and instead will get a new youth allowance paid at the standard rate of universal credit. The long-awaited report on youth unemployment will promise almost half a million job and education opportunities within a decade, but will also advise sweeping changes to the benefits system for young people.
Local fund replacement
There will be a local fund for young people with disabilities to apply to for money to pay for equipment or for help with short-term expenses such as travel to attend a training course or job interview. The fund will be managed by local advisers and the intention is that funds can be transferred quickly when needs arise.
We need to tear up the old approach and start again for under-25s. A tweak to the benefits system just won't do.
Support levels
For most young people apart from those with the most severe needs, the fund would replace long-term support such as Pip. There will be a higher rate of youth allowance for young people living independently, including care leavers.
There will also be an additional cost allowance for those who are most disabled – which young people can receive whether they are in work or not – and a new higher insurance provision for those with severe disabilities who will never be able to work.
Criticisms and responses
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), an anti-poverty charity, said the changes risked taking away vital funds that young people used to keep themselves in work. The charity warned that many on universal credit would be left living on a basic rate of support of around just £80 a week.
Cutting someone's income when they're already struggling to afford food or the bus to college makes it harder for them to stay in education or find work.
Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy expressed unease about voting for cuts to disability benefits, noting that many young disabled people are already in college or work. However, Treasury select committee chair Meg Hillier indicated she was open to the changes, praising Milburn's work.
No 10 declined to rule out the changes affecting existing claimants, with a Downing Street spokesperson stating that the country must choose between investing in young people's success or continuing to pay the cost of failure when they become detached from education and work.
Related
