PIP payments could be stopped for more than a million people under new plans to reform the DWP benefit.
The UK government’s welfare reform proposals could see Personal Independence Payments (PIP), worth up to £737.20 every four weeks, stopped and replaced with talking therapies for more than a million people with mental illnesses.
Disability charity Scope expressed surprise at the extent of the proposed changes to the PIP, while the Resolution Foundation warned that any significant reform will also impact people with physical disabilities. On Friday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said current spending on benefits for working-age people with a disability or health condition was £69 billion – “more than our entire school budget; more than our transport budget; more than our police work.”
He further noted that if no changes are made, PIP spending is expected to increase by more than 50 percent over the next four years. Nearly 3.5 million people in Britain, including almost 219,000 claimants living in Scotland, currently receive PIP – with 37 percent of that total number (1.3 million) claiming for psychiatric disorders such as stress, anxiety and depression.
PIP provides additional financial assistance for adults with a disability, long-term illness, or physical or mental health condition who need 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 Allowance (PIP) from January 2024.
Following the annual increase earlier this month, a successful claim for PIP or Adult Disability Payment (ADP) for residents of Scotland now provides between £28.70 and £184.30 per week in additional financial support. Because the benefit is paid every four weeks, this amounts to between € 114.80 and € 737.20 per pay period.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak expressed concern about possible abuse of this system. He argued for the need to “look again” at the PIP benefit, noting that since 2019 the number of people claiming PIP citing anxiety or depression as their main condition has doubled.
He added that it is “not clear that they have a higher cost of living to the same extent as people with physical conditions”.
A consultation on PIP will be published in the coming days. This will explore changes to eligibility criteria, the assessment process and the types of support that can be offered, so that the system is better tailored to individual needs and more closely tailored to a person’s condition, rather than the current ‘one size fits all’ approach.
The Prime Minister has announced plans to overhaul the disability benefits system, with the aim of a fairer, more compassionate approach that remains sustainable. The upcoming consultation will explore alternatives to cash payments, such as treatments or access to services, which could lead to better outcomes, especially for people with less serious health conditions that are well managed.
The review will also consider whether those with mental health problems could benefit more from services such as talking therapies or respite care rather than financial support through disability benefits.
As of the end of January 2024, the latest figures from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) indicate that a specific number of people are receiving Personal Independence Payment (PIP) for ‘Psychiatric Disorders’. Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride commented: ‘I believe there is much more to our welfare system than benefits; it’s about changing lives for the better. That is why we are bringing forward the next generation of social reforms. have overhauled the outdated benefits system with the introduction of Universal Credit, and now we are building a new welfare scheme for Britain – one that leaves no one behind.”
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has unveiled welfare reforms aimed at modernizing support for those in need, increasing the value of the system for taxpayers and encouraging people to find work rather than continuing to receive benefits.
Scope, a disability charity, 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 key announcement in Sunak’s speech was the PIP consultation. While the foundation recognized the need for reform due to rising costs, it argued that Sunak had presented a “problem statement rather than a plan”.
The Resolution Foundation highlighted the lack of a concrete plan to address the issue, stating: “While the speech set out the problem that increasing ill health is causing the Treasury, it did not provide a plan to address this, nor did it they address the problems caused by increasing poor health. For example, while the Prime Minister has argued for reforms based on the rising number of people with mental illness claiming benefits, any major reforms will also impact people with physical disabilities.”
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 population living with a disability has”. Louise Murphy, a senior economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: “Rising economic inactivity, and especially rising inactivity due to long-term illness, is one of the biggest economic challenges facing Britain in the 2020s.”
“Not only does it reduce employment and growth, and increase government spending, it also damages the living standards of those too sick to work. But today the Prime Minister has formulated a problem statement rather than a plan, especially when it comes to proposals to overhaul our core disability benefits. This could reflect the very challenging nature of disability benefits reforms. But whoever wins the next election will have to go beyond rhetoric and consultation if they want to stem rising benefit bills and help more people get to work. work.”
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