DWP looking at 'range of evidence' for major PIP shake-up due in spring

A DWP minister says reforms of disability benefits, including Personal Independence Payment, will be based on "a range of evidence." The new update came in response to a question by Mel Stride, the Work and Pensions Secretary under the previous Conservative government.

In April, Mr Stride's department had put forward a major overhaul of the benefit, including controversial proposals to replace cash payments with vouchers. The shake-up was aimed at reining in escalating costs, with PIP spending expected to grow by 63 per cent in the next five years from £21.6 billion in 2023/2024 to £35.3 billion in 2028/2029. Each month there are 33,000 more claimants starting to receive the benefit, double the rate of new awards before the pandemic.

More than 3.6 million people now receive PIP, which pays a maximum of £737 every four weeks at its most enhanced levels, equivalent to £9,583 a year. Labour has yet to set out its own revamp of PIP and other DWP benefits.

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Mel Stride, who headed the DWP under the Conservatives and is now shadow secretary for the Department, called on the new government to give more details on its intended plans for PIP. He asked "what steps are being planned to reform Personal Independence Payment" and "what assessment has been made of the factors driving the rising caseloads and expenditure on the benefit."

In a written response on Friday, Minister of State for Social Security and Disability Sir Stephen Timms said: "We will be considering our own response to social security in due course, informed by a range of evidence. This Government is committed to championing the rights of disabled people and to the principle of working with them, so that their views and voices will be at the heart of all that we do."

Sir Stephen's reference to gathering a range of evidence comes as he recently shared that a survey is to be carried out to find out more about the disability-related expenses that claimants need their payments to cover. PIP is designed to help with the "extra costs" of a disability or long-term mental or physical health condition but does not take account of what these costs actually are.

Proposals in the Conservatives' green paper for 'Modernising Support for Independent Living' published in April included replacing cash payments with vouchers, grants, or catalogues so that people could directly purchase disability-related equipment and services. Another option was asking claimants to pay for these upfront and then provide receipts to claim back "a contribution towards the cost."

Consultation on the green paper continued through the General Election and into Labour's new administration, ending on July 22. Sir Stephen said the feedback was either "mixed" or "consistently negative" and that Labour would not be issuing any response to these measures set out by the previous government but is instead developing its own proposals.

Reports suggest Labour's plans for disability benefits will be announced next spring rather than in the Get Britain Working white paper it plans to publish this autumn or in Chancellor Rachel Reeves' new Budget on October 30. Ms Reeves has, however, stated that her first fiscal statement will require "difficult decisions on tax, on spending, and on welfare," suggesting that some benefit changes could be outlined at that point.

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