Update on the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill
- SMEFG
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
On Tuesday 1 July 2025, the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Bill will receive its Second Reading in the House of Commons. This is the first opportunity for MPs to debate and vote on the main principles of the legislation.
The government has announced that it intends to make changes to the Bill, including protection for existing recipients of PIP and the Universal Credit health element. These changes are expected to apply only to new claims made after November 2026. The government has also confirmed a review of the PIP assessment process, which may result in further changes from 2028 onwards.
As of 1:00pm on Friday 27 June, no amendments to the Bill have yet been published. While amendments are likely to be brought forward before Tuesday's vote, MPs have not yet seen the final wording. Given the scope of the reforms, there is considerable interest in ensuring that any changes are fully understood and carefully considered before a decision is made.
We would like to acknowledge and thank the Sheffield MPs who have signed the amendment calling for the Bill to be rejected. These are Louise Haigh (Sheffield Heeley), Olivia Blake (Sheffield Hallam), Gill Furniss (Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough), Abtisam Mohamed (Sheffield Central) and Clive Betts (Sheffield South East). Their action reflects a strong commitment to standing up for disabled people and ensuring that any changes to the welfare system are fair and thoroughly examined.
If one of these MPs represents you, we encourage you to send them a message thanking them for their stance and asking them to maintain their position unless legally binding protections are introduced for both current and future disabled people.
We are also encouraging members of the public to write to Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons. As Speaker, he has the authority to decide whether this Bill should be certified as a Money Bill. If it is given this classification, the House of Lords would be prevented from making any changes and its ability to scrutinise the Bill would be significantly reduced. Given the scope and impact of the proposed reforms, we believe that full scrutiny by both Houses of Parliament is essential.
If you would like to write to the Speaker, you can do so using the official contact form at: www.parliament.uk/business/commons/the-speaker/contact-speaker-house-of-commons
