iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Louise Murphy @louisemurphy.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

DWP has just published a flurry of new data on how PIP and UC-Health assessments are carried out (face-to-face or via phone, video or paper) and whether this impacts who gets awarded health-related benefits. Five takeaways 🧵

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Samuel Thomas @smlthms.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

I've written a blog on the Timms Review's interim report and what it tells us about the future of PIP reform. While public debate often focuses on costs, rising caseload and ‘sickfluencers’, the Review starts with a more fundamental question: is PIP achieving its purpose? 🧵

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Ayaz Manji @ayazmanji.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Last week's announcements crystalised the biggest risks ahead for PIP reform. I've written about how a seemingly shared diagnosis between disabled people and government can mask two competing prescriptions for change. disabilitysocialsecurity.substack.com/p/a-pre-mort...

Lessons from the history of WCA reform
A trailed briefing of a policy announcement which doesn’t come to pass isn’t unusual in politics. But the gap between the political briefing and the content of the report raises the risk of co-option. This is the idea that a shared language between disabled people and government can mask two competing agendas for reform.

In the mid 2010s we were in a similar position on the Work Capability Assessment. The government and disabled people had converged on a consensus that the WCA was not fit for purpose and that there was a radical need for change. But an impreciseness of language and diagnosis meant that two conversations started to develop in parallel.

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Helen Barnard @helenbarnard.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Excited to see this new @trusselluk.bsky.social report: 6 common sense PIP reforms to build security, remove fear, & reduce hardship. 3/4 people forced to turn to food banks are disabled. These reforms can make PIP more efficient, faster & more accurate. www.trussell.org.uk/news-and-res... 1/n

trussell.org.uk

How the Timms Review can unlock opportunity for disabled people | Trussell

Our Senior Policy Manager, Lucy Bannister, sets out why PIP is holding people back and how we fix it.

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Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

I'm doing a story on cuts to the Universal Credit disability payments - I'm looking to speak to anyone who started claiming means-tested disability benefit (LCWRA, either in ESA or Universal Credit) for the first time when they were in their 50s or 60s My DMs are open, grateful for any reposts

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Ayaz Manji @ayazmanji.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

There’s a part of the diagnosis of this piece which I agree with - progressive thinkers do need to grapple with the way PIP penalises disabled people for taking steps forward or experimenting with capacity. But I also don’t think the conclusion it reaches holds. Quick thread below.

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Samuel Thomas @smlthms.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

While social security legislation was absent from the King’s Speech, the Conservatives’ ‘Alternative King’s Speech’ includes a ‘Welfare Reform Bill’. 🧵(1/5)

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Ayaz Manji @ayazmanji.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

New post on the 'right to try'. It's rare to find a disability benefit reform that's popular across the board, would improve people's lives, and make it easier to work. But the government are at risk of letting the opportunity slip away disabilitysocialsecurity.substack.com/p/the-right-...

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Ben Baumberg Geiger @benbgeiger.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

***The Disability Statistics Disaster*** I don't trust the official UK statistics on trends in the disability employment gap, and neither should you... -> New blog post at inequalities.substack.com/p/the-disabi...

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Ayaz Manji @ayazmanji.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

Yesterday the TBI published a paper on reforming disability benefits. The central proposal is to remove eligibility from people with conditions which are unlikely to be work-limiting. I've blogged on why, even on its own terms, I think this proposal doesn't hold up. tinyurl.com/4wxme27k

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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

New IfG report recommends devolving employment support. I think the case for this is very strong: if you look at a map of “where sickness related economic inactivity happens”, it is obvious that what you are seeing is primarily a problem of how local economies operate:

ft.com

Novel approach needed for UK’s sick and unemployed

A shift to local initiatives may help more people back into work

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Ayaz Manji @ayazmanji.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

After a bit of time away from work, I'm getting back into some writing and thinking on mental health and social security. New blog below on what policymakers miss when they focus on overmedicalisation and mental health disabilitysocialsecurity.substack.com/p/why-medica...

Why medicalisation is the wrong target for social security reform

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Alex Clegg @alexclegg.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

New Universal Credit statistics today show the % of claimants in the ‘no work requirements’ conditionality group has continued to rise to 49%, and the proportion in work has fallen to 33%. This is likely to be written up as ‘a rise in claimants not required to work’, but context is very important! 🧵

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Louise Murphy @louisemurphy.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

Unless DWP improves the clarity of its UC statistics by splitting out claimants who migrate from legacy benefits to UC vs those who make new claims, we're going to keep getting misleading headlines like this for the foreseeable future...

The Times front page, including the headline: 1m more on benefits with no need to seek work.

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Declan Gaffney @greyskiesthinking.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

The first question to ask whenever you hear a statisical claim about sickness & disability benefit receipt is 'has @benbgeiger.bsky.social posted on this yet?' and if the answer is 'no' wait until he has before commenting. inequalities.substack.com/p/have-new-w...

inequalities.substack.com

Have new WCA claims exploded in the last year?

Yet again, the DWP has been publishing data in a misleading way, making it hard to know what's going on...

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Martin Williams @martin-cpag.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

In AP v SSWP [2025] UKUT 330 (AAC) UT comments on common practice of DWP decision makers in Universal Credit of stating a claimant is not entitled to seek mandatory reconsideration of a decision because it is "policy" (typically that happens when challenge involves interpretation of a rule) (1 of 5)

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Ed Pemberton @epemberton.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

New blog out today, as part of our work with @healthfoundation.bsky.social, looking at the unequal health impacts of the current system of housing cost support that fails to cover people's rent.

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Becca Stacey @beccastacey.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

Great report showing what we see all too often at Citizens Advice: work being used against people at PIP assessments Being able to engage in paid or voluntary work doesn’t cancel out someone’s care or mobility needs - this mindset just pushes disabled people further from the labour market

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Maddy Rose @maddyirose.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

📢Young disabled people could face benefit cuts of more than £420 a month if government plans go ahead. Young people deserve real support - not cuts that could push them into poverty. New blog from me & @victoria-anns.bsky.social: medium.com/p/62015a6f0b12

medium.com

The government must cancel plans to cut disability benefits for young people

This blog has been co-written by Maddy Rose, Senior Policy Researcher, and Victoria Anns, Policy Researcher.

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Ayaz Manji @ayazmanji.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

I've written about three challenges for the Timms review and what they might mean for campaigners, policy people, and anyone invested in making PIP better. tinyurl.com/4kv4aa4j

tinyurl.com

Three challenges for the Timms review

Last week, the Department for Work and Pensions published the revised terms of reference for the Timms review of PIP . In theory this is…

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Prof Ruth Patrick @ruthpatrick0.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

This was very cathartic to write, and I'm grateful to @samfr.bsky.social for giving me the space to try and set out just why the two-child limit must go, and go in its entirety [mini 🧵]

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Iain Porter @iainkporter.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

Great to be at powerful @turn2us.org.uk report launch in Parliament today, alongside @jrf-uk.bsky.social colleagues! Our social security system should be there for all of us when we need support, and treat people with compassion, dignity and respect #StopTheStigma

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Ayaz Manji @ayazmanji.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

We've now heard repeated proposals from think-tanks and opposition parties about cutting PIP for people with 'low-level' mental health problems. None of these engage with the reality of how either PIP or mental health work.

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Maddy Rose @maddyirose.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

UC & PIP bill proposes the biggest cuts to disability benefits since OBR was created. It would: ✂️cut benefits for 3.2m disabled ppl 📈Push 300,000-400,000 into poverty, including 50,000 children 📈 Drive 440,000 into severe hardship New joint briefing: www.ucpipbill.co.uk

ucpipbill.co.uk

Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill -

On Tuesday 1st July, MPs will be asked to vote on the UC & PIP Bill, which contains the biggest cuts to social security in a decade. This briefing from ten organisations including Scope, Citizens Advi...

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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

As it's in the news again - this is the post I wrote a few months ago on why the disability benefits bill has been going up. Essentially, you can't remove need by removing support - it just pops up as a cost somewhere else. open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...

open.substack.com

The definition of madness

Governments need to stop making the same incredibly expensive mistake over and over again

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Ayaz Manji @ayazmanji.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

NEW: Analysis published by Trussell and WPI Economics today finds that planned cuts would put 440,000 people in disabled households at risk of needing to turn to a food bank. If the UK government doesn't change course, then this will be their legacy. 👇

Headline reading: Labour's disability benefit cuts will force nearly half a million people to turn to food banks

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Ayaz Manji @ayazmanji.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

A quick thread on how planned cuts to disability benefits will affect voters in Labour-Reform battlegrounds. (1/4)

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Lucy Bannister @lucybannister.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

Heartening words from Work & Pensions Committee Chair, @debbieabrahamsmp.bsky.social. “They have worked all their life and acquired a disability or a long-term condition, and they need that help. I would hope that if it happened to you or I, there would be a system there that is compassionate.”

bigissue.com

DWP warned benefit claimants are dying of starvation

The Work and Pensions Select Committee is calling for the DWP to be made legally-responsible for safeguarding benefit claimants.

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Luke Young @lukeyoung.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

MPs will be voting in June on legislation to cut disability benefits with very limited information from the UK government on what the impact of those cuts will be. Citizens Advice has published analysis of what these changes means for the people we support www.citizensadvice.org.uk/policy/publi...

citizensadvice.org.uk

Pathways to Poverty: How planned cuts to disability benefits will impact the people we support

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Ayaz Manji @ayazmanji.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

Ahead of Liz Kendall’s speech today – a quick thread on why the welfare state isn’t collapsing and why deep cuts to disability benefits aren’t the answer. (1/9)

Guardian headline: Our £5bn disability benefits cut will stop welfare state collapsing, says Kendall

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Craig Berry @craigpberry.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

Work won’t cut it New briefing for @citizensadvice.bsky.social by me and @beccastacey.bsky.social We look at whether people losing PIP and UC income will be better off *if* they move into employment, if reforms were implemented today Here's a quick 🧵 but spoiler alert: probably not

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Anna Dent @annadent.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

I've done a NEW page on my website 🖥️ And I'm starting NEWSLETTER ✉️ If you are interested in the use of AI and other tech in how govts the world over administer the welfare state you should sign up! Monthly-ish insights, analysis, gossip, thrills and more ⤵️

abdconsultancy.co.uk

Digital welfare state: origins, controversies, research — ABD Consultancy

How are governments worldwise using AI and other tech to administer the welfare state? Find out about research, policy and investigations into the digital welfare state, including digital surveillance...

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Ayaz Manji @ayazmanji.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

Quick thread on new IFS research on the relationship between health and disability benefits claims. 👇

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Z2K (Zacchaeus 2000 Trust) @z2ktrust.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

"Pursuing policies that deepen poverty will only perpetuate the ‘managed decline’ that the government has railed against." Read our Senior Policy Advisor's blog on how rushed disability benefit cuts will harm the government's efforts to achieve its missions👇 z2k.org/mission-crit...

z2k.org

Mission critical: How disability benefit cuts threaten to jeopardise the government’s missions - Z2K

The government has set out five key missions which it sees as key to showing the British public that it is delivering on their priorities. Our Senior Policy Adviser explains how cuts to disability ben...

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Becca Stacey @beccastacey.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

I’ve written about how the government's cuts agenda conflicts with its employment agenda Reducing the financial support that enables many to access employment will only create further barriers to work for disabled people wearecitizensadvice.org.uk/why-efforts-...

wearecitizensadvice.org.uk

Why efforts to get more disabled people into work are flawed

How the Pathways to Work green paper limits the government’s likelihood of getting more disabled people into work

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Tom Pollard @pollardtom.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

There was rightly concern last week when OBR & DWP documents revealed that £4.8bn of cuts to benefits for ill & disabled people would push 250k people into poverty, including 50k children But @neweconomics.bsky.social analysis suggests the true scale & impact of these cuts will be even greater... 🧵

Image of newspaper frontpages from last week reporting on the scale and impact of benefit cuts for ill and disabled people

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Ayaz Manji @ayazmanji.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

Today's report from the National Audit Office shows just how far the whole Jobcentre system as it stands is geared up to first and foremost check people's compliance with benefits rules.

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Ayaz Manji @ayazmanji.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

In case there was any doubt about the impact of disability benefit cuts - yesterday the Government published figures which show that households receiving the daily living component of PIP are *three times* more likely to have used a food bank in the last year. (1/3)

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Craig Berry @craigpberry.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

Disability benefit cuts will cause widespread hardship, no questions asked Quick thread 🧵 on the impact of cuts on why the govt needs to properly consult - or see the full post at: medium.com/@craig.berry...

medium.com

Disability benefit cuts will cause widespread hardship, no questions asked

Craig Berry takes a first look at the Pathways to Work green paper, finding that — despite large income losses for many disabled people —…

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Tom Pollard @pollardtom.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

A phantom policy from the previous government is distorting the spreadsheets on the scale & impact of benefit cuts for ill & disabled people In the real world, we're looking at £6.8bn of cuts to benefits for this group & around 350k people pushed into poverty - here's why... 🧵

Picture of a table from the OBR costings for the Spring Statement with a line about "Reversal of 2023 WCA reforms" that is reported as entailing a 'spend' of £1.6bn highlighted

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Emily Andrews @emilyishness.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

Right - how much of this '£1bn for employment support' will just replace existing schemes? 📌Work and Health programme: stopped taking referrals in Sept 📌Restart: taking referrals until June 26 📌Trailblazers: funded to March 26 📌WorkWell pilots: same Only Connect to Work runs to 29/30 I think?

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Ruth Curtice @ruthcurtice.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

The welfare cuts come in April 2026, but the detail reveals that the £1bn employment support that was promised in exchange is heavily backloaded. So only £200m of support is actually available for extra work support in the year the cuts come in.

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Ayaz Manji @ayazmanji.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

Worth emphasising today that the awful figures we're seeing from the impact assessments of the Government's disability benefit reforms, still don't include at least three measures that would affect the lives of disabled people. (1/5)

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Catherine Hale @catherinehale.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

I hoped to turn up to Westminster again today to protest the cuts to disability benefits. I am one of many who are in work already and for whom the proposed cuts to PIP will make me much less able to work. #SpringStatement #WelfareNotWarfare #NoToCuts Image by @paulaknight.bsky.social

No to cuts. Welfare not warfare. Remote protest against cuts

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Abby Jitendra @abbyabhaya.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

New analysis from JRF shows if you’re a carer your household could lose a staggering amount as a result of disability benefits cuts. This is because you’ll no longer be entitled to Carers Allowance. A huge hit to families already struggling.

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Ben Baumberg Geiger @benbgeiger.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

A progressive agenda on the medicalisation of mental health [NEW POST] Some theoretical groundwork to start paving the way towards an alternative to cuts inequalities.substack.com/p/progressiv...

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Abby Jitendra @abbyabhaya.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

I'm hiring! Looking for a smart policy and/or influencing person for a 9 month post, working across a number of our policy areas incl work & housing. It's a pivotal time to be working on social policy! Come join us - applications close on 10th April. www.jrf.org.uk/careers

jrf.org.uk

Careers

Do you want to help build a more equitable and just future, free from poverty? Join us and use your skills to make a real difference.

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Prospect Magazine @prospectmagazine.co.uk · 23/03/2025

I find it hard to see how disability entitlements will not shrink by more than the stated £5,000 a year for a significant minority, writes @tom-clark.bsky.social. www.prospectmagazine...

prospectmagazine.co.uk

The devastating reality of disability benefit cuts

The government must face the consequences of taking support from the poorest, and try to find a better way

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Tom Royston @tomroyston.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

The other way to look at the proposal to time limit all working age contributory benefit is that it would not just weaken but *completely abolish* what has for many years been (after retirement pension) the second most important part of the state contributory benefit system.

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Ayaz Manji @ayazmanji.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

It's right that the focus this week has been on the announced £6.5bn of cuts to disability benefits. But plans to expand Jobcentre conditions to 1.8m disabled people have the potential to add huge pressure to people's lives. medium.com/@ayaz_manji/...

medium.com

Why we should all be concerned about reforms to benefit sanctions and work requirements for…

Since Tuesday’s announcements on disability benefits, commentators have rightly been focused on the at least £6.5bn worth of cuts to…

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