Disabled People in Poverty

Ian Byrne Excerpts

Tuesday 17th June 2025 Westminster Hall

[David Pinto-Duschinsky (Hendon) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Jardine.

If we are to be serious about tackling poverty among disabled people, we need to be honest and focused on tackling its root causes and on making sure that the system is sustainable. The overwhelming driver of poverty among disabled people is low levels of employment. Only 54% of disabled people are in work; that is 30% lower than the average for people without disabilities. Shockingly, 43% of disabled people are economically inactive, and our employment rates lag far behind those of other countries, such as Canada’s at 62%. We cannot just ignore worklessness as the driver of poverty. The JRF says that people in full-time work are five times less likely to be poor than those in no work.

[Ian Byrne (Liverpool West Derby) (Lab)]

Will my hon. Friend give way?

[David Pinto-Duschinsky]

No thank you; I have very little time.

We have to deal with the root causes, so we have to focus on work. We also have to deal with the sustainability of the system, which is currently unsustainable. PIP claimant levels have risen at twice the level of underlying ill health. The rise since 2016 alone is equivalent to the entire police grant for England and Wales. If we are to sustain the system for the long term, we must make it sustainable. The proposed changes will not affect 90% of people. They will protect the most vulnerable and make the system fit for the future. That is why we should support them.

[Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Clapham and Brixton Hill) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Poole (Neil Duncan-Jordan) for securing the debate.

Of the 13,132 disabled people who live in my constituency, 5,110 claim PIP. Cutting benefits without tackling the sky-high extra costs that disabled people face is unconscionable. Scope’s research shows that the monthly extra cost incurred by disabled people living in London is currently £1,469, which is notably higher than the UK-wide figure.

The Government’s claim that the cuts will increase employment is not backed by any assessment. Their own impact assessment found that the cuts will result in 250,000 more people in relative poverty, of whom 50,000 will be children. Disability benefit cuts will affect 3.2 million current or future claimant families. What I heard recently about the proposed cuts to disability benefit from disabled constituents at an event organised by the Disability Advice Service in Lambeth only deepened my conviction that the cuts are wrong and deeply damaging. Sadly, the Government are not listening.

[Ian Byrne]

The Government got it completely wrong when they cut winter fuel payments last year, forcing them into a damaging U-turn this month. Does my hon. Friend agree that, rather than make another gross error by pushing through brutal cuts to disability support, the Government should admit their mistake, withdraw the plans and introduce a wealth tax instead?