North East to be worst hit by Labour PIP cuts with 'devastating' loss twice as bad as London
The North East will be hit harder than any other part of England by the Government’s planned cuts to Personal Independence Payments (PIP), new research has found.
Our region’s economy is expected to lose £268.83 per person as a result of Labour’s controversial welfare reforms, which is more than double London’s loss, according to academics who predict a “devastating” toll on the most deprived communities.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in March that the Government would be tightening the eligibility for PIP, which gives disabled people and those with chronic health issues extra financial help with their living costs, as part of a squeeze on benefits aimed at saving billions of pounds and getting more people back to work.
But the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) own analysis has estimated that 250,000 people would be pushed into poverty as a result of the welfare overhaul, including 50,000 children.
And Health Equity North (HEN) analysis released today now warns that the PIP changes will be most severely felt in struggling areas across the North – predicting that the worst-affected towns stand to lose more than £20 million per year due to a resulting drop in spending in local shops and other services, as claimants will have less money coming in to support their needs.
It names Easington as the Parliamentary constituency that will be the hardest hit of anywhere in England, with its estimated annual loss totalling £23.7 million or £409.16 per person.
That compares to a loss of just £130 per person in London and a national average of £176, with around 400,000 fewer people expected to be eligible for PIP as a result of the changes.
Those estimates relate to an expected drop in overall spending in local communities, rather than average reductions in actual PIP payments to individual claimants.
Carers have already said they will not be able to afford daily necessities such as food and clothing if money is cut.
The constituencies of Hartlepool and education secretary Bridget Phillipson’s Houghton and Sunderland South both feature in the top 10 worst-hit areas too.
MPs are now being urged to think again before the reforms come for a vote in Parliament in the coming weeks.
Newcastle University’s Professor Clare Bambra, academic co-director of HEN, said: “When these plans were announced, the Government said that cutting PIP eligibility would reduce costs and get more people into work. While this may look to be an attractive proposition for MPs on paper, our research shows the wider economic impacts on their constituencies and local economic growth.
“Those areas that will lose most from this proposal were already decimated by austerity, COVID and the cost of living crisis. They have worse health than other regions and their local services and economies are already struggling. Losses of this magnitude risk worsening the situation for everyone living in these deprived constituencies.
“Parliament cannot risk rushing proposals like these through without fully considering how they affect local areas that are already struggling. We hope that research such as ours gives MPs more context, so they can make the most informed, forward-thinking and economical decision.”
The North East’s average annual economic loss of £268.63 per person compares to an expected £231 in the North West, £206 in Yorkshire and The Humber, £191 in the West Midlands, and £133.80 in the South East.
Bristol Central is predicted to be the least affected constituency, with a loss of £62.30 per person.
Hannah Frost, from Heaton, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that she worries losing her PIP will mean she will no longer have “quality of life” and that she was already trying to save money to prepare for the reforms.
The 27-year-old, who uses a wheelchair and has hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS), added: “There are a lot of people worried that they are not even going to be able to afford to eat if these changes come into effect, because the cost of living is already so high.”
The DWP was contacted for a response.
Ms Reeves said in March that she was “ absolutely certain that our reforms, instead of pushing people into poverty, are going to get people into work”.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer added: “This government will always protect the most severely disabled people to live with dignity. But we’re not prepared to stand back and do nothing while millions of people – especially young people – who have potential to work and live independent lives, instead become trapped out of work and abandoned by the system. It would be morally bankrupt to let their life chances waste away.”
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