Thank you to everyone who responded to our survey about welfare benefit reforms and wrote to their MPs to raise their concerns about the potentially devastating impact of the cuts that the government proposed in the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill.
What was the result of the vote on the Bill?
After the vote on 1 July 2025, the Bill has passed this stage towards becoming law but, as a result of MPs hearing from constituents like you, major changes were made. We welcome these changes but remain very conscious of the risk of harmful cuts to welfare benefits for people who will face the challenges of CKD in the future.
The government had planned to tighten eligibility for the daily living component of PIP, a non-work related benefit that aims to help people cover the additional costs of long-term conditions like chronic kidney disease (CKD). Charities, including Kidney Care UK, spoke out strongly against this.
What were the results of our survey about welfare benefit reforms?
In our survey, many people reported using PIP to help them stay in work, for example by enabling shorter working hours to accommodate dialysis sessions. Other people used PIP to help them cope with symptoms of CKD, for example through buying extra therapy or help at home, thus avoiding worsening health. We shared this insight with MPs, so they better understood why PIP is so important.
What is the current state of the Bill?
The government have said current PIP claimants will be unaffected and the parts of the Bill relating to PIP will be removed. Instead, they will bring forward a review of the PIP assessment process, which will involve people with disabilities and organisations representing them. It will finish by November 2026 and its findings will guide any future changes to PIP.
The remaining major changes in the legislation are reducing the health component of Universal Credit (Limited Capacity for Work and Work Related Activities - UC) for new recipients and increases in standard UC, from 2026-27. Current UC recipients and people with severe health conditions will be exempt from these cuts, but it is not yet clear who will be included in the severe group.
These reforms are coming in alongside more support to help people with health conditions like CKD find and maintain work, where that is possible. The government have asked what support would be most helpful. Kidney Care UK has shared the responses of our recent survey with them, to explain that the person delivering the support must be trained in the specific condition and understand the nuances, individual nature and unrecognised aspects of kidney disease and its treatments.
With your input we will continue to do all we can to make sure the voices of people with kidney disease are heard in the reform of the welfare system, so it functions better and treats everyone with the respect and humanity they deserve.