Dudley mum of sons with autism hospitalised due to fears of losing disability PIP funding

ITV News

3 days ago

A mother with two sons with autism has said the government's planned welfare changes would devastate her family's future.
Lorraine Griffin, from Dudley, relies on the Disability Living Allowance for her boys, Sam and Ben, aged 12 and 13.
Lorraine faces constant costs - medicine, nappies for Ben, who has more severe autism, and replacing TVs he has broken.
When they reach 16, they will need to apply for Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
But news that their benefits could be at risk led to her being hospitalised from stress.
Ms Griffin said: "If they attack these benefits, these payments that are our life, where on Earth will we be?
"I ended up in A&E because of my heartbeat going absolutely crazy. This is everything to me, this is our life, I'm repsonsible for these boys, I'm responsible for everything they have in life."
The Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill is set to be voted on by MPs next Tuesday.
It would make it harder for disabled people with less severe conditions to claim PIP.
"Isn't life hard enough? We have got that much to process and to put up with in our daily lives, it just makes life impossible, what they're taking away from us," Ms Griffin said.
She added: "Why are they rushing into this, to do it now? Do it properly. Find out what families need. Come and take a look, just slow down. Please don't, don't cut off our livelihood."
A survey of 1,000 disabled people by the national disability charity SENSE found that nearly a quarter fear they will no longer be able to afford essentials like energy and food if the welfare reforms are voted in.
2 in 5 fear they'll struggle to cope financially if the changes go ahead.
One in five warned that losing this support would lead them to depend more heavily on the NHS.
Steven Morris, from SENSE, said: "The PIP is there to support with the additional costs of being disabled.
"It may be she needs more electricity to power a ventilator or charge wheelchairs. These changes, these additional costs are not going to disappear when somebody loses their PIP. Instead, it's going to push more people into poverty."
How PIP works and what's changing
Those applying have to declare how complex their needs are in a list of 10 daily activities:
preparing food
eating and drinking
managing treatments
washing
going to toilet
getting dressed
speaking
reading
engaging with others
making decisions about money
They get points for each category, the higher the number, the more restricted the person is.
Under the current system, you need to score at least 8 points in total to receive the 'standard rate' of funding for the 'daily living' component.
Under the new system, from November 2026, you will still need to get at least 8 points - but 4 of those need to come from at least one daily living activity.
The other part of PIP - the funding for 'mobility' - will not be affected.
The welfare reforms also include changes to Universal Credit, and more face-to-face assessments.
There is a growing rebellion in Parliament with Labour MPs challenging the planned reforms. More than a 100 Labour MPs a publicly backing a move to block the legislation.
But Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said: 'We have got to make the reforms to our system. It isn't working as it is.
'It doesn't work as it stands for people who desperately need help to get into work or for people who need protection. It is broken.
'We were elected in to change that which is broken, and that's what we will do, and that's why we will press ahead with reforms.'
The rebels argue disabled people have not been properly consulted about the plan and say further analysis is required before making any changes.