You Spoke, We Acted: Real Changes to Disability Benefit Reforms

Over the last few months, I’ve heard from so many people across Redcar & Cleveland about the proposed changes to disability benefits. People have shared their experiences and concerns with me – face to face, in emails, at surgeries.

Some have told me, that after 14 years of the Tories slashing the welfare state, they rely on PIP more than ever to afford extra care or mobility support. Others were scared about how changes might affect their children or loved ones with long-term conditions. I’ve listened carefully to every one of those concerns, and I’ve taken them straight to ministers consistently over the last 3 months, so your voices were heard loud and clear.

I'm really pleased that, because of feedback from communities like ours, the government has made important changes to the welfare reform plans:

🌹 No one currently claiming Personal Independence Payment (PIP) will be affected. The proposed changes will only apply to new claims from November 2026 – giving reassurance to those already receiving PIP that they won’t lose out.

🌹 Everyone currently receiving the health element of Universal Credit will have their income protected in real terms – and that will also apply to new claimants with the most serious health conditions.

🌹 There’ll be a full ministerial review of the PIP assessment, co-produced with disabled people, campaign groups, and MPs – to make sure it’s fair, transparent, and built around people’s real needs.

🌹 These steps come alongside other key changes – including the biggest real-terms increase in Universal Credit since the 1980s, ending repeated reassessments for the most seriously ill, and a new ‘right to try’ scheme to support people who want to move into work without losing their safety net.

At its best, our welfare state does what we cherish: it protects the people who need it.

At its worst, because of the changes made by the Tories, it traps people into the system and denies them the dignity and security that they deserve.

This has to change and we

cannot stand by as more and more severely ill and disabled people face the insecurity of being continually reassessed for social security when it is clear that they cannot work again. We will end the cruel re-assessments for those who can’t work.

What’s more, I know no one in Redcar and that’s is happy with a situation where nearly 1 in 5 young people here are not in education, employment or training, with no support to help them get a foot on the ladder.

When 2.8 million people of working age are written off by a Tory system that was designed to fail, I will not accept this.

Let me be clear: if we do nothing to reform social security, we will fail the people who need it most. And we will give a pass to our political opponents who want to see an end to it for good.

It is our job to fix the system that they have broken, with Labour values of care and compassion but also to allow people to fulfill their potential with dignity. And we must protect it for the long term. Our party created the welfare state and it is our job to secure it for the future.

I know this won’t fix every worry overnight – and I’ll keep pushing to make sure the detail works for people here. But I’m proud that the experiences and concerns of Redcar & Cleveland residents have helped shape the national conversation and bring about real changes.

I’ll continue to stand up for you every step of the way as these reforms go forward.