20,000 signatures reached
To: Iain Duncan Smith, Secretary of State for Work & Pensions
Scrap the change in mobility rules for PIP
Scrap the change in rules for the Personal Independence Payment that reduces the distance threshold to determine if someone is eligible from 50 metres to 20 metres. This new reduced threshold does not reflect the true reality of the hurdles disabled people face not being able to walk more than 50 metres. We are calling on Iain Duncan Smith to scrap this unfair change and return to the old standard of 50 metres. I urge you to re-think this obviously money saving measure and think about the impact in will have on the disabled, and your possible re-election.
Why is this important?
Under the new qualifier, if you can walk from your vehicle to the other side of the road, you probably won't qualify for Higher Mobility Allowance! My Motability vehicle is my contact with the outside world. I can't use public transport, and would therefore be dependent on the goodwill of others. Many thousands are in this position, and would be trapped in their homes or deprived of the allowance under the current legislation.
I have a degenerative condition of the spine. As things currently stand I would not qualify for the higher mobility allowance because it is deemed that by walking 20 metres you have sufficient mobility and therefore do not qualify. This is obviously not true. My condition means that it can be difficult to walk those distances. But under the rules as they stand I would not qualify.
This will have a huge impact on my life, my wife and children. I was eligible for an adapted car, but under these news rules it may be that I don't qualify.
There are countless people like me, facing losing mobility assistance and becoming prisoners in their own homes. The government must rethink this rule change.
