By Ella Smith, Welfare Rights Consultant & Paul Jones, Policy and Public Affairs Consultant
The ME Association strongly opposes the series of reforms set out in the government’s Pathways to Work Green Paper. We believe that the government will not achieve its objective to increase the number of disabled people returning to the labour market by implementing these harmful reforms.
We call on the government to extend and expand the Pathways to Work consultation process, to co-produce all reforms with stakeholders, and provide a full impact assessment immediately – before these proposals are put to a vote in the House of Commons.
The government's proposals, including increasing the conditionality threshold for PIP, threaten to erode vital support for people living with ME/CFS and Long Covid by failing to consider the impact of fluctuating* – where symptoms are always present but range in severity and impact on functional capabilities – and varying conditions.
If implemented, as currently outlined, these reforms would exclude many people with ME/CFS and Long Covid from the social security system: plunging more disabled people into poverty or further into poverty, worsen health outcomes, and drive more disabled people away from the labour market.
The ME Association will continue to engage with the government’s consultation process through to July 2025: maintaining a strong presence at Westminster; attending meetings with the Minister of State for Social Security and Disability; and continuing to brief parliamentarians who are concerned about the impact of these reforms on people living with ME/CFS and Long Covid.
We are currently drafting a response to the Green Paper consultation. In addition, we are one of a handful of organisations chosen by the Work and Pensions Select Committee to produce a written submission which will be delivered later today. We are comitted to working with government and other key stakeholders throughout the consultation process.
We will publish online the Work and Pensions Committee submission next week, and the full response to the Geen Paper consultation after 1 July 2025.
Please be assured – we will continue to stand against any reforms or measures that threaten the safety, dignity and wellbeing of people living with ME/CFS and Long Covid.
*N.B. Where the use of the word ‘fluctuating' is used, this is to align with DWP terminology.