by Under new plans to overhaul the DWP’s welfare, PIP payments could end for more than a million people.
The UK Government’s welfare reform proposals for Personal Independence Payments (PIP), worth up to £737.20 every four weeks, could be stopped and replaced with talking therapies for more than a million people with mental health conditions.
Disability charity Scope has expressed surprise at the extent of the proposed changes to PIP, while the Resolution Foundation has warned that any significant reform will affect those with physical disabilities. On Friday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said current spending on benefits for working-age people with disabilities or health conditions was £69bn – “more than our entire school budget; more than our transport; more than our policing”.
He also noted that if no changes are made, PIP spending is expected to increase by more than 50 percent over the next four years. Almost 3.5 million people across Great Britain, including almost 219,000 claimants living in Scotland, currently receive PIP – with 37 per cent of that total figure (1.3m) claiming for psychiatric disorders such as stress, anxiety and depression.
PIP provides additional financial assistance to adults with a disability, long-term illness, or physical or mental health condition that requires assistance with daily tasks or mobility.
Figures
The latest figures from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) show that a specific number of people were receiving Personal Independence Payment (PIP) from January 2024.
Following the annual upgrade earlier this month, a successful claim for PIP or Adult Disability Payment (ADP) for those living in Scotland provides between £28.70 and £184.30 per week in extra financial support. As the benefit is paid every four weeks, this equates to between £114.80 and £737.20 per payment period.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak expressed concern about the potential abuse of this system. He argued that the PIP benefit needed to be “looked at again”, noting that, since 2019, the number of PIP claimants citing anxiety or depression as their main condition has doubled.
He said that it is “not clear that they are at the same level of increased living costs as those with physical conditions”.
A consultation on PIP will be published in the coming days. This will explore changes to the eligibility criteria, the assessment process and the types of support that can be offered so that the system is better focused on the needs of the individual and more closely linked to the person’s condition rather than the current approach “one size fits all”.
The Prime Minister has announced plans to reform the disability benefits system, with the aim of a fairer and more compassionate approach that will still be sustainable. The forthcoming consultation will explore alternatives to cash payments, such as treatments or service access, which could lead to improved outcomes, particularly for those with less severe and well-managed health conditions.
The review will also examine whether people with mental health problems could benefit more from services such as speech therapy or respite care instead of financial support through disability benefits.
At the end of January 2024, the latest figures from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) show a specific number of people receiving Personal Independence Payment (PIP) for ‘psychiatric disorders’. Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said: “I believe our welfare system is about much more than benefit payments; it’s about changing lives for the better. That’s why we’re bringing forward the next generation of welfare reforms. we reformed the outdated benefits system by introducing Universal Credit, and now we’re building a new welfare settlement for Britain – one that leaves no one behind.”
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak unveiled welfare reforms designed to modernize support for those in need, improve the system’s value to taxpayers, and encourage people to find work rather than stay on benefits.
Disability charity Scope has criticized the government’s proposal to “cut disabled people’s incomes by hitting PIP” during a cost of living crisis, calling the idea “horrific”. The Resolution Foundation think tank noted that the PIP consultation was the main announcement in Sunak’s speech. While acknowledging the need for reform due to rising costs, the foundation argued that Sunak had presented a “problem statement rather than a plan.”
The Resolution Foundation drew attention to the lack of a concrete plan to address the issue, saying: “Although the speech highlighted the problem of rising ill-health for the Treasury, it did not offer a plan to address it, nor he addressed any of the For example, although the Prime Minister made the case for reform on the basis that the number of people with mental illness claiming benefits is increasing, any major reforms will affect them those with physical disabilities as well.”
The foundation highlighted the financial impact of disability reforms on families, adding that “people with disabilities are among the poorest in society, with one in three adults in the poorest tenth of the disabled population”. Louise Murphy, senior economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: “Rising economic inactivity, and particularly rising inactivity due to long-term illness, is one of the biggest economic challenges facing Britain in the 2020s.”
“Not only is it reducing employment and growth, and increasing public spending, it is damaging the living standards of those who are too sick to work. But the Prime Minister has today set out a problem statement rather than a plan, especially when it comes. This may reflect the very challenging nature of disability benefit reforms, but whoever wins the next election will have to go beyond rhetoric and consultation if they are to stop the benefits bills raising and helping more people come in. work.”
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