PIP and passport benefits - who are the losers?

Now that the transfer from DLA to PIP is pretty much a done deal, with tweaks likely at committee stage but otherwise leaving up to half a million of us out in the cold with a loss of vital benefits.

It's not rocket science to see that many of those who will lose out are going to have to make stark choices about food or heating, not buying essential equipment or important extras not available on prescription, or having to forgo the motability car they were saving for.

But there are other, unforeseen, side effects of this hateful, unwanted legislation. People who are removed from DLA and fail to make the transfer to PIP because they won't clock up enough points on the tick-box assessment won't just lose the money - they will also lose their eligibility for passport benefits.

Passport benefits are extra benefits you can only access if you are already receiving DLA. The most well known ones are the Disabled Rail Card and the concessionary bus pass issued by local authorities.

For some people who are too disabled to use public transport (but not, apparently, disabled enough to qualify for PIP), the loss of access to concessionary transport may be irrelevant.

But it will be a huge blow to wheelchair users who use accessible buses and trains, as well as those with limited mobility on foot who need access to public transport. People with epilepsy will also lose out heavily because they are the main group among disabled people who are not medically fit to drive. Many people with far more disabling conditions can still drive themselves in adapted vehicles and can go pretty much anywhere they please. People with uncontrolled epilepsy are completely dependent on public transport and taxis.

I had a good look at the PIP case studies yesterday, particularly studying the one about a woman with epilepsy. Looking at the points allocation, I'm fairly sure I won't qualify for PIP even though I have a lifetime award for DLA. I get DLA because preparing and cooking a meal unaided is very risky for me (I once almost burnt down my former partner's house because of this - it was a miracle the house hadn't gone up completely in flames by the time he got home), likewise going out unsupervised is also risky because of the possibility of having a seizure while crossing the road.

These are the risks people with epilepsy face daily if their seizures aren't controlled fully by medication and this is why they qualify for DLA (not all people with epilepsy qualify) and why, through receipt of DLA, we qualify for travel concessions.

However, concessionary bus passes in England and Wales are issued by local authorities and it's quite literally a postcode lottery, as LAs can set their own criteria for eligibility. Most require proof that applicants receive DLA, such as a copy of the award letter. For disabled people living in those local authority areas, the loss of the bus pass will be a bitter blow. It will certainly severely limit my ability to get around as much as I'd like to and I live in an urban area with a very frequent bus service passing my home. In rural areas, where they may be only one or two services a day, disabled people will suffer severe isolation.

Likewise, eligibility criteria for the Disabled Rail Card, which gives a third off rail travel for the holder and a travel companion, vary depending on the type of disability but again most categories require proof of receipt of DLA.

Loss of access to the trains and buses (and also the Tube, trams and local area trains on the bus pass in London and Manchester) will seriously hinder disabled people's ability to get around - to go to work, to socialise, even to get to the shops - and participate fully in society.

And of course, loss of disability benefits means people will have no spare cash to pay for expensive taxis instead. Before I moved house, I worked out I was spending most of my monthly DLA on taxis because it was too dangerous to walk home from the bus stop in the evenings in my neighbourhood unless I was willing to take a one-mile detour.

For many people loss of access to cheap or free travel could be even worse than the loss of the cash benefit itself.

Maria Miller has promised that we won't lose out, but can we trust her claim that the government is working with local authorities and National Rail? I for oneam not holding my breath...