WATCH as Peterborough MP declines to say how he will vote today on Government welfare reform plans

The data reveals that in the Peterborough City Council area, the number of claimants for the benefit which is designed to help people with long term health conditions that keeps them out of work, rose from 4,265 people in January 2019 to 9,248 claimants in April this year.

Over the same period, in the Peterborough parliamentary constituency, the number of claimants rose from 4,296 to 9,248 while in the neighbouring North West Cambridgeshire constituency, claimant numbers rose from 2,759 to 6,114. The figures have been released by the Taxpayers’ Alliance.

According to the Taxpayers’ Alliance, about one in 10 people in England and Wales – receive personal independence payments.

The figures show that in the East of England 328,640 people were claiming PIP in April 2025, an average of 83.4 per 1,000 people. This was an increase of 118 per cent from January 2019.

The growth in the number of claims nationally for PIP and the increasing costs, now estimated to be £5 billion a year, have prompted the Government to change the eligibility criteria for the PIP which has triggered a row among many Labour MPs, with a reported 60 MPs preparing to vote against the changes in today’s House of Commons welfare reform debate.

While the Government has recently agreed to apply the new eligibility criteria to new claimants only, many MPs are still not happy and are thought set to vote against the Government’s plans.

Peterborough MP Andrew Pakes said he would not reveal how he was going to vote in the House of Commons until the vote actually took place.

He said: “I’m not playing out my voting intentions by social media but what I am doing is having conversations with Government ministers, officials and others.

"It’s not only about welfare reform, it’s about how we can get people back into work.

"This is also about investing in apprenticeships and getting people back into work and it’s wrestling with the complexities of how we reform our welfare system.

“There is a real big choice ahead for the Government on welfare reform.

Mr Pakes said: "I think two things can be right at the same time.

"It’s unaffordable to have a welfare system which doubles to £70 billion in the coming years.

"But it is absolutely right that we make any changes by being compassionate and involving disabled people.

"When the vote comes up, you’ll see how I vote and I’m really hopeful we can build some consensus about the kind of reforms that will work for this country and also help those people most in need.”

John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: "It’s no exaggeration to say that this is becoming an emergency for taxpayers, as the number of PIP claimants spirals out of control.

“Politicians across the spectrum need to now put country over party and radically reform the benefits system to avoid it crippling the nation’s finances while ensuring that more and more people are liberated from a life of benefits and dependency.”

North West Cambridgeshire MP Sam Carling did not respond to a request for comments.