DWP confirms plans to change PIP assessments in crackdown on benefit cheats

The Department for Work and Pensions is planning to change the way people are assessed for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in a bid to root out benefit cheats. It comes as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a speech on welfare reforms that he worries PIP is being "misused."

Mr Sunak spoke of how PIP awards can be assessed based on "subjective and unverifiable claims" of how a physical or mental illness or disability is affecting someone's everyday life. Some conditions don't show up on medical scans or tests and assessors must take the word of the claimant on whether they have a specific condition and how it is affecting them.

Following the speech, the Government issued a statement expanding on its intentions. It said there were "concerns that the assessment process is significantly easier to game by individuals who seek to exploit the system."

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The Government said: "A consultation on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) will be published in the coming days which will explore changes to the eligibility criteria, assessment process and types of support that can be offered so the system is better targeted towards individual needs and more closely linked to a person's condition rather than the current 'one size fits all' approach."

The consultation will look at whether "alternative interventions to cash payments" – such as treatment or access to services – would be a better option for those who have conditions that are less severe or are being well-managed. PIP currently pays up to £9,584 annually or £798.63 monthly, with 3.5 million people claiming the benefit.

In 2019, there were an average of around 2,200 new PIP awards a month in England and Wales where the main condition was anxiety and depression - this has more than doubled to 5,300 a month last year. The Government says this is driving up the cost of the disability benefits bill at an unsustainable rate and PIP spending alone is expected to grow by 52 per cent from 2023/24 to £32.8 billion by 2027/28.

Total spending on benefits for people of working age with a disability or health condition increased by almost two-thirds to £69 billion since the pandemic, with benefits expenditure now costing more than the spending on schools or policing. "It's clear our current disability benefit system for adults of working age is not fit for purpose," the Government said.

Mr Sunak said in his speech: "The whole system is undermined by the way people are asked to make subjective and unverifiable claims about their capability. So in the coming days we will publish a consultation on how we move away from that to a more objective and rigorous approach that focuses support on those with the greatest needs and extra costs.

"We will do that by being more precise about the type and severity of mental health conditions that should be eligible for PIP. We'll consider linking that assessment more closely to a person’s actual condition and requiring greater medical evidence to substantiate a claim. All of which will make the system fairer and harder to exploit."

Other parts of the welfare reforms will tackle work capability assessments for those on Universal Credit. Too many people are being written off as unfit for work and given additional support through incapacity payments of £416 a month on top of their Universal Credit, Mr Sunak said.

Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said: "I believe our welfare system is about far more than benefit payments; it is about changing lives for the better. That is why we’re bringing forward the next generation of welfare reforms.

"We've already overhauled the outdated benefit system by introducing Universal Credit, and now we are building a new welfare settlement for Britain – one where no one gets left behind. The welfare reforms announced by the Prime Minister today will modernise the support available for those who need it the most, improve the value of the welfare system for taxpayers, and ensure that people are signed up to support back to work, not signed off."

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