Citizens Advice responds to the first reading of the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill

Responding to the first reading of the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment bill, Dame Clare Moriarty, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, said: 

“This is a crucial moment for disabled people in this country. If MPs vote for this bill, they will be choosing to take away Personal Independence Payment (PIP) from someone who needs help to cut up food, or dress, wash, or use the toilet.

“By asking MPs to vote without a proper assessment of the consequences, the government has chosen not to ask questions it doesn't want the answers to. Those questions are now in the hands of Parliament. MPs have a clear choice: be on the side of disabled people or vote for cuts that will cause real suffering.”

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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.