Disability campaigners take independent PIP review call to Welsh Parliament

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Oct 222025
 
DPAC Logo with text underneath "Disabled People Against Cuts" and then web address dpac.uk.net
The words "We want an Independent PIP Review" in bold and black text, with Independent highlighted in red. On the left there is a tear-out effect of a greyscale photo of a disability protest, and a red-tinted photo of Stephen Timms, the disability minister.
Disability campaign group Disabled People Against the Cuts Cymru pose for a group photo outside the Senedd (Welsh parliament) with Sioned Williams MS. Sioned is holding up the DPAC Cymru letter. There are 15 people in the photo. Two people are wearing DPAC t-shirts. Four people are using wheelchairs. Two people are wearing face-masks. One person is holding a flag showing a Welsh dragon with a disability equality colour background. Behind everyone is the DPAC Cymru banner. It is very large, and has five people holding it. It says Disabled People Against Cuts and then the word Cymru with a Welsh dragon background effect on the text. It has the DPAC logo which is a red, green, purple, blue wheel being held by four arms with different skin tones. At the center of the logo is an upside-down black triangle bearing the letters D P A C and the word Cymru. Behind the campaigners are various tall buildings in Cardiff. The nearest building is made of a striking orange brick.

On Tuesday 14th October, members and supporters of Disabled People Against Cuts Cymru (DPAC Cymru) met outside the Senedd (the Welsh Parliament) to protest the disability cuts and hand over a letter to Senedd members. The letter, co-signed by over 700 individuals and organisations, outlined DPAC’s request to the Welsh Government to support an independent review of Personal Independence Payment (PIP). The letter calls for a PIP review that is truly led independently by disabled people and our organisations, to allow our lived experience to influence the policies and decisions that will ultimately affect us.

We are grateful to the members of the Senedd who met with us or wrote to us about this matter, and we hope that all members will take into consideration what the letter said.

The lobby happened on the same day that the Minister for Social Security and Disability, Sir Stephen Timms, declined an invitation to meet with the Senedd Cross Party Group on Disability due to “diary pressures”. Timms is currently responsible for the PIP review, and we feel that his response highlights how disabled people and Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs) are being excluded from the review and decision-making process.

Timms’ promise that the PIP review would be a genuine co-production with disabled people is not being upheld, and the Senedd lobby was part of an ongoing campaign to ensure that disabled people’s voices are being heard.

As a new member of DPAC Cymru, it was wonderful to see so many people at the Senedd to support what DPAC is working to achieve. Given the current situation, it is vital that disabled people’s voices are amplified in a way that is accessible, impactful, and authentic. We will continue to campaign for the rights of disabled people and to push for a fairer, independent PIP review to create a system that truly supports the needs of disabled people across the UK.

Briallen Symons-East
Disabled People Against Cuts Cymru (DPAC Cymru)

 

Disability campaign group Disabled People Against the Cuts Cymru pose for a group photo outside the Senedd (Welsh parliament) with Sioned Williams MS. Sioned is holding up the DPAC Cymru letter. There are 15 people in the photo. Two people are wearing DPAC t-shirts. Four people are using wheelchairs. Two people are wearing face-masks. One person is holding a flag showing a Welsh dragon with a disability equality colour background. Behind everyone is the DPAC Cymru banner. It is very large, and has five people holding it. It says Disabled People Against Cuts and then the word Cymru with a Welsh dragon background effect on the text. It has the DPAC logo which is a red, green, purple, blue wheel being held by four arms with different skin tones. At the center of the logo is an upside-down black triangle bearing the letters D P A C and the word Cymru. Behind the campaigners are various tall buildings in Cardiff. The nearest building is made of a striking orange brick.

Photo: Disability campaigners from Disabled People Against Cuts Cymru outside the Senedd in Cardiff.

 

A photo of a disability lobby at the Senedd (Welsh parliament). Lee Ellery, who is a wheelchair user, is handing over pack of documents to the Welsh politician Sioned Williams. Lee is smiling and in the middle of talking. In the background is the Disabled People Against Cuts Cymru (DPAC Cymru) banner.

Photo: Lee Ellery hands a pack of documents to Sioned Williams MS.

 

Sioned Williams MS talks to campaigners from Disabled People Against Cuts Cymru (DPAC Cymru) outside the Senedd. There are about 20 people in shot. Four people are users of powered wheelchairs. One person is wearing a yellow medical face mask and is draped in a Welsh flag with disability equality colours. Another wears a black medical face mask. People are standing around chatting, while Sioned is at the center of the photo. At the right of the photo is the DPAC Cymru banner being held by several people. The banner says "rights not charity." One person wears a hat that says PCS. One has a copy of the Socialist newspaper.

Photo: Lee Ellery hands a pack of documents to Sioned Williams MS – from another angle!

 

Disability campaigners from Disabled People Against Cuts Cymru at the Senedd (Welsh Parliament) talk with the politician Jenny Rathbone MS.

Photo: DPAC Cymru talk with Jenny Rathbone MS outside the Senedd.

 

Disability campaigners Lee Ellery and Joshua Reeves, who are both wheelchair-users, are conversing. Around them are other campaigners from Disabled People Against Cuts Cymru.

Photo: Disability campaigners Lee Ellery and Joshua Reeves BEM conversing.

 

Lee Ellery, Ben Golightly, John Williams from Disabled People Against Cuts Cymru are talking to Sioned Williams MS. In the background is the Senedd building. Lee is using a powered wheelchair. He is wearing smart clothes. Sioned is holding a pack of documents and smiling and looking at Lee attentively. Ben is wearing a DPAC t-shirt and is holding a small placard with text. John is holding a copy of the Socialist newspaper and looking at Ben.

Photo: disability campaigners converse with Sioned Williams MS.

 

Darren Millar MS and staff converse with disability campaigners outside the Senedd. In the background are trees and the sea. It is picturesque, although overcast.

Photo: DPAC Cymru spoke with Darren Millar MS and his staff outside the Senedd.

 

Lee Ellery and Ben Golightly from Disabled People Against Cuts Cymru (DPAC Cymru) pose for a photo with Sioned Williams. Lee Ellery is a wheelchair user and is in smart clothes. Ben is wearing a DPAC t-shirt. Ben is holding a sheet of paper with the DPAC Cymru logo that says "No disability cuts! Disabled people want to run our own independent PIP review!" Sioned is holding a sheet of paper with the same message translated into Welsh. She is also holding up the DPAC Cymru letter with 700 signatures. In the background, John Williams is standing to their leftwith a copy of a newspaper called the Socialist. On the cover of the newspaper, it says: "Your party: let's build a party to fight labour's war and austerity. defend the right to protest."

Photo: We posed for photos with Sioned Williams MS holding bilingual (English and Welsh) signs that said:
“No disability cuts! Disabled people want to run our own independent PIP review!”