Citizens Advice responds to proposed changes to the Universal Credit and Personal Independence

Responding to proposed changes to the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill, Tom MacInnes, Director of Policy at Citizens Advice, said: 

“This is a crucial moment for this country. These newly-proposed changes will simply create a two-tier system. For young disabled people and people who become disabled in the future, there will be no escape. If this goes ahead, from November next year, new claimants who need help to cut up food, dress, wash, or use the toilet will be denied the lifeline that Personal Independence Payment provides.

“There must be time for a full consultation and impact assessment so the consequences of these decisions are clear for all. These benefits are a vital support for millions of disabled people - major change should not be rushed through.

“MPs have a choice: be on the side of disabled people or vote for cuts that will cause real suffering in the future.”

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Notes to editors:

  1. Citizens Advice is made up of the national charity Citizens Advice; the network of independent local Citizens Advice charities across England and Wales; the Citizens Advice consumer service; and the Witness Service.

  2. Our network of charities offers impartial advice online, over the phone, and in person, for free. 

  3. Citizens Advice helped 2.68 million people face to face, over the phone, by email and webchat in 2023-24. And we had 51.7 million visits to our website. For full service statistics see our monthly publication Advice trends.

  4. Citizens Advice service staff are supported by more than 19,000 trained volunteers, working at over 1,900 service outlets across England and Wales.

  5. Citizens Advice is the statutory consumer advocate for energy and postal markets. We provide supplier performance information to consumers and policy analysis to decision makers. 

  6. You can get consumer advice from the Citizens Advice consumer service on 0808 223 1133 or 0808 223 1144 for Welsh language speakers.