DWP report exposes impact of Conservative PIP reforms on mental health claimants

In a push for increased openness within the welfare system, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has disclosed plans to eliminate the Work Capability Assessment (WCA), acknowledging it would "significantly" affect disabled claimants with mental health conditions. This considerable change was initially put forward by the previous Tory government but encountered strong resistance.

After a protracted battle regarding a Freedom of Information request about how the reform would influence individuals protected under equality laws, John Pring, disability rights journalist and editor of Disability News Service, succeeded in his dispute against the Tory-led DWP culminating in the Information Commissioner's order that the information be released.

However, instead of facing off with the publication in court, the now Labour-controlled DWP opted to publish the equality impact assessment entirely "due to the passage of time." The department's own evaluation is critical, indicating that removing WCAs would produce both beneficiaries and victims, with men, older individuals, and those struggling with mental health issues "more like to be impacted" compared to other categories.

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The Disability News Service has revealed a report stating: "Men are more likely to be impacted by the change than women, older people are more likely to be impacted than younger people and, because of the exclusion of the 'risk' group... claimants with mental health impairments are significantly more likely to be impacted than claimants with physical health impairments".

Before the July General Election, Labour stated that Work Capability Assessments (WCAs) needed to be "reformed or replaced," while promising a "proper plan" for disability benefits in their manifesto. However, there has been no announcement that they would overturn these Tory-proposed plans, which were suggested as a way to save money from the escalating benefits budget.

The proposed reform would mean that sick and disabled individuals, who are unable to work, would no longer have to undergo the WCA to receive their benefits, which can provide additional support to those found to have limited capability for work and work-related activity. Instead, all claimants would go through the same Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment.

This PIP assessment has faced backlash from disability rights advocates, who have raised concerns about the possibility of non-health professionals deciding whether long-term sick or disabled individuals are capable of work. Under these altered criteria, which some have described as "defying logic", the report found that vulnerable individuals faced a "substantial risk" of harm if they were deemed fit to work.

Plans to reform the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) indicate that there will be a measure of "transitional protection" for individuals who could lose out on benefits due to these changes, but this safeguard is set to diminish over time, leaving new claimants with similar conditions without support.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has released costing notes suggesting that doing away with WCAs could lead to savings of just £23 million in 2026/27, which would then rise to £82 million the following year. Officials have informed that the report and its costings were specifically prepared for the Tory government at a particular moment and were meant for internal purposes only.