DWP PIP change could see claimants offered vouchers instead of regular payments

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have proposed major reforms to personal independence payments
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have proposed major reforms to personal independence payments -Credit:Mike Kemp


Major changes to the disability benefits system are being considered by the government. On Monday, April 29, proposals to reform personal independence payments (PIP) were announced, and could include people having their benefits cut off.

It comes as the government wants to tackle a rise in people claiming the benefit for mental health reasons, which is leading to increasing concerns over the increase of spending on PIP payments. It's expected to grow by 52 percent from 2023-24 to £32.8bn by 2027-28, the BBC have reported.

Reforms to the benefit could see some having their regular payments stopped, and instead receiving one-off grants for things like home adaptions. But a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) minister has refused to say which conditions will no longer qualify for PIP.

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What are PIP payments and who can claim them?

Personal independence payments, known as PIP, were created in 2013 and replaced the Disability Living Allowance. These payments were designed to help people of working age with extra living costs caused by long-term disabilities or sickness.

The amount that people receive weekly is dependent on their condition and their level of need. The maximum amount claimants of the benefit can receive is £184.30 every week.

You can claim PIP whether you have a job or not. More than 3.3 million people in Britain receive PIP, recent statistics have shown. The money can be used for anything from accessible transport and special diets to higher insurance costs.

But according to the BBC, the number of monthly new claimants in England and Wales, where the main condition was anxiety and depression, grew from an average of 2,200 a month in 2019 to 5,300 a month last year.

Why are PIP payments being changed?

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke about PIP reform and increasing mental health claims for the benefit while visiting the DHL Gateway port facility on the Thames estuary on Monday, April 29
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke about PIP reform and increasing mental health claims for the benefit while visiting the DHL Gateway port facility on the Thames estuary on Monday, April 29 -Credit:Frank Augstein - WPA Pool/Getty Images

The government has said spending on PIP is expected to grow by 52 percent from 2023/24 to £32.8bn by 2027/28. Speaking in Essex on Monday, April 29, Rishi Sunak said that "something has gone wrong since the pandemic", which has lead to more people not working because of long-term ill health.

Around half of these people are reportedly saying this is due to anxiety, nerves or depression, Mr Sunak added. An increase in people unable to work because of mental-health conditions "should really worry us", he said.

"Of course if you're suffering from mental health, you should get the treatment and the support that you need. But we should also not say that you can't do any work, especially when the research shows that work can be good for your wellbeing." Therefore, the changes will support people effectively, the Prime Minister promised.

What are the changes being proposed?

The key change to PIP will be that people get vouchers or one-off grants instead of regular payments. The proposals say the DWP plans to explore “alternative approaches to support” for people claiming PIP, which includes replacing regular payments with one-off grants which will help people with "significant costs such as home adaptations" or expensive equipment.

It will also look at giving out vouchers to contribute towards specific costs or reimbursing claimants who provide receipts for purchases of aids, appliances or services. The DWP is also considering cutting PIP payments for those who have “lower” costs, claiming they “may have better outcomes from improved access to treatment and support than from a cash payment”. The DWP claims this approach would offer more “tailored support”.

Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride has said the reforms are "significant in their scale and their ambition" and aim to “modernise the support provided through the benefits system”. Rishi Sunak said the plans would make the benefits system "fairer to the taxpayer, better targeted to individual needs and harder to exploit".

However, when challenged on which health conditions would be taken out of PIP assessments by Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, Alison McGovern, Mr Stride was unable to answer. According to BirminghamLive, Mr Stride said that Ms McGovern's concerns would be raised in the consultation.

He has previously suggested to the Times that people with "milder health conditions" would no longer receive financial support, and said in the Commons: “I think we should explore whether that approach we have at the moment is the best one in terms of outcomes."

Mr Stride highlighted systems in place in other countries, including New Zealand and Norway. He said: "We have much to learn from the experiences of other countries around the world who have a similar benefit but go about the organisation and application of that benefit in a different way. New Zealand, for example, does indeed make payments based on invoices submitted for equipment by those who are receiving the benefit; Norway, for example doesn’t have assessments in the way that we do, they rely more on medical evidence provided by medical practitioners.”

Will my PIP be taken away?

PIP eligibility is decided based on how your disability or ill-health impacts your day-to-day life. It's not allocated based on the condition you have.

For example, if a person has type 1 diabetes, it does not automatically make them eligible for PIP. However, if the condition has caused them to lose their sight, which makes it more difficult for them to undertake daily tasks, then they may be eligible.

But with these reforms, the DWP are proposing to change the strict criteria that decides who needs the benefit, the Mirror has reported. In the consultation the DWP claims, that “criteria currently used in PIP assessments do not always fully reflect how a disability or health condition impacts on a person’s daily life”.

The DWP says it is considering whether the thresholds for entitlement correctly reflect the need for ongoing financial support. This includes considering if current descriptors – such as the need for aids and appliances – are good indicators of extra costs.

The DWP is also looking to change the qualifying period for PIP to understand what impact an illness will have on them over time and consider whether it should change the test used to determine if a condition is likely to continue long-term. This could potentially remove reassessments to those who are deemed to have long-term, however, this is not confirmed in the consultation papers.

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