Stephen Timms

Disability cuts pass in Parliament after repeated government concessions

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/disability-cuts-pass-parliament-after-repeated-government-concessions

Keir Starmer

Keir Starmer won Commons backing for his welfare Bill this evening after making further concessions to Labour rebels which leave the legislation eviscerated.

MPs rejected an amendment to sink the bill by 328 votes to 149 after an impassioned debate, suggesting a significant backbench revolt.

A further vote on approving the Bill was passed by 335 votes to 260, with the Tories voting against, cutting the government’s majority in half. It is believed 42 Labour MPs voted against the whip on the amendment.

Still facing defeat after earlier retreats that left benefits to disabled people already claiming Personal Independence Payments (PIP) untouched but threatened cuts for future claimants, Starmer backed down further at the eleventh hour.

Changes to PIP payments for future disabled claimants will now be paused until the conclusion of a review by Welfare Minister Stephen Timms, rather than being imposed from November 2026.

The latest retreat leaves the Bill bereft of most of its original purpose and without the £5 billion savings Chancellor Rachel Reeves was eager for.

And it leaves the Prime Minister’s authority radically diminished after bruising criticisms from normally loyal Labour MPs.

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Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/disability-cuts-pass-parliament-after-repeated-government-concessions

Keir Starmer says that the Labour Party under his leadership all feel a small part of Scunthorpe.
Keir Starmer says that the Labour Party under his leadership all feel a small part of Scunthorpe.
Continue ReadingDisability cuts pass in Parliament after repeated government concessions

Work and pensions committee chair tells ministers to fix carer’s allowance issues

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https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/apr/27/work-and-pensions-committee-chair-tells-ministers-to-fix-carers-allowance-issues

Stephen Timms says DWP letting unpaid carers incur ‘enormous accidental overpayments’

Ministers have been told to “immediately” fix the issues causing tens of thousands of unpaid carers to incur “enormous accidental overpayments” amid growing anger over the carer’s allowance scandal.

An older man waits at a pedestrian crossing pushing a person in a wheelchair

Stephen Timms, the chair of an influential parliamentary committee, said he was “very troubled” that scores of carers were being forced into financial distress as a result of the government’s mistakes.

He said the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) should be “helping them not harassing them” and added: “It does sound to me as though things are going quite badly wrong at the moment.”

Timms, the chair of the Commons work and pensions committee and the Labour MP for East Ham, told BBC Radio 4’s Money Box programme that the DWP seemed to “completely ignore” the notifications it received when an unpaid carer earned more than the £151-a-week limit.

Instead, he said, the department was allowing people to incur “enormous accidental overpayments”, often over several years. In dozens of cases these bills have totalled more than £20,000.

The Guardian revealed this week that 156,000 unpaid carers are now repaying severe penalties – pushing many into debt or financial distress – for often unwittingly overstepping the small earnings limit while caring for a loved one. Roughly one in five unpaid carers in part-time work breached the earnings limit last year.

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https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/apr/27/work-and-pensions-committee-chair-tells-ministers-to-fix-carers-allowance-issues

Continue ReadingWork and pensions committee chair tells ministers to fix carer’s allowance issues