It comes as The i Paper’s analysis of official data shows the kind of health conditions – and the age groups – which may be mostly likely to fall foul of the reforms.
Labour wants to reduce the PIP caseload by 400,000 people by the end of the decade, with the reforms expected to come into force from November 2026.
square DISABILITY BENEFITS I have MS, and I worry PIP cuts could lose me thousands a year
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However, under the changes, PIP applicants must score four points in at least one activity category to get a daily living payment, worth up to £440 a month.
The changes mean that having less severe difficulties in completing tasks – which can typically lead to scores of one, two or three points in a series of categories – will no longer be good enough.
The latest Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) data shows that “invisible” physical conditions – including back pain, arthritis, musculoskeletal issues and chronic pain syndromes – are the least likely to score four points or more.
People with anxiety and depression also appear vulnerable to the benefit reforms.
Mikey Erhardt, of Disability Rights UK, said it was “hard to work out the Government’s logic” for reforms which were aimed at getting more people into work when PIP was not an out of work benefit.
“They are the jobs you’re least likely to get reasonable adjustments [from employers]. So it seems cruel, because how are those conditions going to suddenly improve to allow people to get into work?”
Merrell said those with severe physical disabilities that are “visually apparent” may be more likely to keep their PIP.
“To reduce their needs to whether they can score four points on an arbitrary, narrow test is not only clinically unsound, it’s disgusting and humiliating,” the expert added.
“When it comes to the PIP assessment review, all the noise, everything the Government has said, would suggest they would want to make the process harder for mental ill health and distress,” said Erhardt.
The DWP data also suggests that people with learning disabilities, autism and cerebral palsy are among those most likely to avoid falling foul of the four-point rule PIP changes.
A recent report by the Resolution Foundation think tank found that people with these conditions are “least likely to be affected” by the changes – based on having the highest proportion of claimants scoring 21 points or more.
Only 24 per cent of current PIP claimants in their twenties do not currently get the four points that will be needed in at least one category.
The DWP have stated that pensioners who continue to claim PIP “will not be affected by the proposed changes”.
Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK said PIP makes up just over one-third of net income among people aged 60 to 65 “so we are very worried about the prospect of people losing this vital money”.
Responding to analysis of official figures – shared via a recent FOI request – a DWP spokesperson said: “This data is partial and doesn’t reflect that the majority of people who are currently getting PIP will continue to receive it.”
The Government has said PIP mobility payments, worth up to £77 a week, will not be affected by changes.
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