Plymouth Green Councillor Calls on City’s MPs to Oppose Devastating Disability Benefit Cuts

Green Party Councillor Lauren McLay has written to Plymouth’s three MPs – Luke Pollard, Fred Thomas, and Rebecca Smith – urging them to vote against the Government’s proposed cuts to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and the Universal Credit Health Component. These changes threaten to strip vital support from thousands of disabled people, push families further into poverty, and shift huge costs onto already overstretched local councils and NHS services.

The letter follows a Green motion to Plymouth City Council opposing the cuts, which Labour councillors voted down and Conservatives abstained on. Councillor McLay’s message is clear: these cuts are unjust, short-sighted, and must be stopped.

Read the full letter below:

Monday 30 June 2025

To:
Luke Pollard MP
Fred Thomas MP
Rebecca Smith MP

Urgent Call to Vote Against the Cuts to Support for Disabled People

Dear Luke, Fred, and Rebecca,

I am writing to urge you as Plymouth’s MPs to vote against the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill at its second reading tomorrow, 1 July.

The Government’s so-called ‘concessions’, announced on Friday, are in no way sufficient to address the catastrophic consequences this bill poses to many of Plymouth’s most vulnerable residents by cutting vital support, increasing poverty, and putting further strain on local services. It is a rushed, costly, and unfair bill that fails to uphold the dignity and equality disabled people deserve.

Key concerns regarding recent changes are as follows:

Creation of a ‘two-tier’ benefit system:

Disability charities have said the recent amendments to the bill will lead to an unequal future for different groups of disabled people, making life harder for hundreds of thousands of future claimants. Most disabled people (8 out of 10) aren’t born disabled; they became disabled through accident, illness and injury. The stricter PIP eligibility criteria and the lower health element of Universal Credit for new claimants create a situation where individuals with similar needs receive different levels of support based solely on their claim date – this arbitrary distinction undermines principles of equality and dignity. Supporting this bill means supporting a system that marginalises future disabled people.

Lack of scrutiny:

This bill is being pushed forward at an alarming speed, and has failed to uphold a reasonable and thorough consultation process. The flawed public consultation only ended on the 29th June, meanwhile the terms of reference of the Pip assessment review, details of the ‘right to try guarantee’ and the poverty impact assessment are only due to be published today (Monday 30 June) – these conditions have denied you, our MPs, the ability to fully review the information and properly represent your constituents.

Overall, the measures in this bill are:

Cost shifting, not cost saving:

For councils: The Disability Policy Centre estimates councils will face £1.50 in additional care costs for every £1 lost in disability support. With adult social care in Plymouth already under enormous pressure, this bill shifts the financial burden of supporting disabled people away from central government and onto local councils — jeopardising our ability to meet statutory duties and support those in need.

For the NHS: The cuts are expected to result in £1.2 billion in increased NHS demand due to worsening mental and physical health outcomes for disabled people. In Plymouth, where our NHS services are already stretched to the brink, this will mean more hospital admissions, longer waiting times, and greater pressure on already overstretched staff.

Additionally, research reveals the government’s welfare reforms are likely to deliver savings of £100m by 2030, a mere 2% of the £5bn claimed by the Government.

This bill is financially illiterate.

Poverty delayed, not poverty prevented:

Even with concessions, research from the Department for Work and Pensions shows these cuts will push 150,000 more people into poverty, at a time when the extra costs of living with a disability are rising steeply.

According to Scope, the extra costs of being disabled in the UK are to rise by almost 12% in five years. Their annual disability price tag report estimates that the extra cost facing disabled people currently stands at £1,095 per month, up from last year’s price tag of £1,010. Based on the Family Resources Survey and forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility, the report estimates this monthly cost will climb to £1,224 by the financial year 2029-30. It means disabled people will be facing an effective annual surcharge of almost £15,000 by the end of the decade to live at the same standard as non-disabled people.

Taking away vital financial support, as this Bill proposes to do, will push more disabled people into poverty and deepen poverty levels for those already struggling.

This bill is morally cruel.

Disabling rather than enabling:

As already explored, the proposed changes will make people sicker and poorer, making them less able to engage with their lives, communities and work.

PIP is not an out of work benefit: it enables many of its recipients to work. While I echo the support of many disability action groups who welcome measures such as ‘the right to try’, I share their overall concern that the government’s measures will push more people out of work, as they may struggle to cover the costs of work-enabling measures like transportation, medical equipment and personal care. Added financial strain (as well as its knock-on mental burden) can make it harder to manage a disability while trying to maintain or find employment.

Additionally, new polling undertaken by More in Common in collaboration with Disability Rights UK and Get Yourself Active shows that recipients of benefits like Personal Independence Payment say that losing their benefits would negatively impact their physical and mental health:

Nearly half of benefits recipients (45%) expect to be less healthy if their benefits were reduced or removed
One third (34%) say they would participate less in their community
Four in ten (39%) say they would be more lonely

This bill will create an unhealthier, unhappier country.

This bill is fatally flawed.

To summarise, this bill does not offer the fundamental support we should all agree is needed to help disabled people live with dignity and access work, where appropriate.

I am calling on you to take a principled stance and vote against this Bill. Voting for it will not only hurt disabled constituents in Plymouth but will also undermine public trust in a fair and compassionate social security system.

Last month, I brought a motion before Plymouth City Council opposing these cuts. Labour councillors voted it down; Conservative councillors abstained. I regret that local politicians failed to send a clear message of support and solidarity to disabled people and carers across our city. That is why I now appeal directly to each of you as our MPs: please do what your local parties failed to do and stand up for disabled residents in our city.

Listen to disabled people, listen to disabled campaigners, listen to the data and follow good moral sense – this bill should not,, and cannot be supported.

You can ensure that the UK upholds the dignity, rights, and wellbeing of disabled people by voting against these cruel, ill-conceived, costly, rushed and short-sighted reforms.

Kind regards,

Councillor Lauren McLay

Leader of the Green Party Group on Plymouth City Council
Councillor for Plympton Chaddlewood
lauren.mclay@plymouth.gov.uk