Good morning. Welcome back to Survival Guide. Isabella here, bringing you the Big Issue's analysis of the biggest news in parliament this week: the dreaded cuts to disability benefits.

There has been months of speculation. Disabled people have been forced to face immense uncertainty and anxiety around what may happen to their benefits. We finally have answers but, to be clear, you will not lose your benefits immediately and you may well not lose your benefits at all.

First, there will be a consultation around the proposals in the government’s green paper. This is something that you can directly get involved in. It’s a way of feeding back your opinion to the government about these cuts and reforms, and you can do that here.

You can also write to your MP and urge them to stand up for benefits claimants in parliament.

If you are unsure about exactly what these proposals will mean for you, we’ve been breaking it down at the Big Issue, and I’ve got a summary of the big changes to expect right here in this newsletter.

On Tuesday evening, after the cuts were announced, I was given five minutes on the phone to speak with Stephen Timms, the minister for disability and social security. He is a key figure who has been working up these plans. 

He told me that he “regrets” that people have been made to feel anxious in the run-up to the announcement but, despite the arguments I put to him, he stood by the cuts. 

All of this and more in this week’s newsletter… 

There is help out there. Call Samaritans for free on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org or visit samaritans.org for useful resources and advice on coping.

Mind’s welfare benefits helpline supports anyone with mental health problems who is navigating the benefits and welfare system. Call them on 0300 222 5782. Citizens Advice offers advice and can refer you to support which may help.

If you’ve got a story to share, we want to listen. Get in touch at isabella.mcrae@bigissue.com or share your story here.

What exactly are the changes the government has announced to disability benefits?

Eligibility criteria for PIP will be tightened. A minimum of four points must be scored on at least one daily living activity to receive the daily living element of the personal independence payment. People who score three points on all of the activities, for example, are at risk of losing their benefit – although the mobility element will not be affected.

Tory proposals to replace PIP with vouchers or means-test PIP will not be taken forward.

No reassessments for people with severe disabilities. People with the most severe, life-long illnesses or disabilities will no longer have to face reassessments and their income will be protected from cuts.

Universal credit to rise – but there will be cuts for the health element. If you’re on universal credit standard allowance, you’re in luck. Your benefit will rise by £7 a week, from £91 currently to £98 in 2026/2027.

But for people who already get the health element of universal credit, that will be frozen at £97 per week until 2029/2030 – representing a real-terms cut to the health element, although these people will also benefit from the raise in the standard allowance.

For new claims, the rate of the universal credit health element will be cut by £47 per week, from £97 per week in 2024/2025 to £50 per week in 2026/2027. You can read more about the changes to universal credit here.

Work capability assessment scrapped. The WCA will no longer be used to assess people for the health element of universal credit. Instead, they will use the PIP assessment and eligibility will be based on the impact of your disability on daily living, not on the capacity to work. Here’s more on the changes to the work capability assessment.

People will have a ‘right to try’ work without risk of losing benefits. Working in itself won’t trigger reassessment or potential loss of benefits, and this will be established in law. 

Read our full analysis of the changes to the welfare system and what they could mean for you.

In case you missed it

The hidden impact of Labour's disability benefit cuts – from carer's allowance to railcards. Labour's welfare crackdown will also have an impact on 'passported benefits'. Find out more.

Labour warned it is 'undermining' its own welfare reforms with £5bn of benefits cuts. New claimants to the health-related element of universal credit stand to be £40 per week worse off as a result, experts warn. Get the story.

Benefit cuts are a 'violation of human rights' which will harm ill and disabled people, Labour warned. Charities slammed Labour’s proposals for welfare. Read the analysis.

I'm a disabled person claiming benefits – and I've lost all hope in the Labour government. A single parent describes their experience of claiming disability benefits and the realities of life for them, in the aftermath of the DWP’s announcement. Here’s the story.

Like what you're reading? Let people know by going to our sign-up article and sharing it on your social networks!

DWP minister 'regrets' making disabled people feel anxious over benefit cuts

Ahead of the government’s announcement, disabled people told me they were “terrified” of the cuts. Many believed they were going to lose their benefits. 

I asked DWP minister Stephen Timms if he had any regrets about recent government rhetoric, and he replied: “I do regret that people have been caused anxiety, and I think that’s one reason why it’s a good thing we’ve been able to set out exactly what our plan is. The speculation in the press that has caused problems is over.”

But there remain significant concerns about Labour’s plans. Charity Z2K has found that people with “severe disabilities” it supports are at risk of losing more than £300 a month, because they don’t score four points in any of the daily living activities.

This includes Carlos, a 60-year-old who has had a stroke, is unable to move his right arm and has memory problems. It also includes Anatoli who had his left foot and the toes on his right foot amputated – his wife has to help him with dressing, using the toilet and bathing. And it includes Mohammed, who has psychosis and experiences hallucinations and delusional thinking. He is under the care of a social worker and a psychologist.

Asked how the DWP can justify taking money from these people, Timms said: “What we’ve done is ensured the sustainability of the system, while also ensuring that the support provided to the most severely impaired people is fully protected. Indeed, for many of them, there are some significant improvements that they will see in the new system. 

“Now, if you don’t score four points in any of the 10 daily living activities for PIP, then yes, you will not have your PIP anymore, but for a lot of the people that you’ve just been referring to, I would be expecting them to be scoring four in more than one of the daily activities.”

Ayla Ozmen, director of policy and campaigns at Z2K, responded: “It’s concerning that the government does not appear to understand who will be affected by its planned changes to the PIP eligibility criteria. We are calling on the government to rethink these dangerous plans, which will see severely disabled people plunged deeper into poverty.”

Read my full interview with Stephen Timms here.