Now Labour's favourite think tank admits one in six people on PIP disability benefits don't need them

One in six people on the PIP disability benefit should no longer receive cash support, according to a think tank with close links to Labour.

In a major intervention, the Resolution Foundation said the cost of personal independence payments (PIP) is ‘growing at an unsustainable rate’, with the bill expected to reach £34.5billion by 2030. 

It claimed billions could be saved by restricting support to those who need it the most, after the number of people in England and Wales claiming PIP hit a record high of 4.1 million in July.

The Resolution Foundation – whose former chief executive Torsten Bell is now the Pensions Minister – surveyed 2,611 people receiving the benefit and found that 16 per cent of those questioned ‘report no additional costs linked to their disability’.

Younger people were even more likely to admit they do not rely on the payments, worth up to £194 a week and meant to help people with long-term physical or mental health conditions who have ‘difficulty doing certain everyday tasks or getting around’.

The survey found that 21 per cent of 16 to 24-year-olds reported ‘little limitation and no additional costs from their disability... A system that was better able to identify claimants without additional costs could save up to £4.4billion a year by removing cash payments from around 670,000 claimants (based on the 2029-30 caseload),’ it concluded.

The recommendations from a Labour-friendly think-tank will heighten expectations that Andy Burnham will propose restrictions to PIP after the publication of a long-awaited review by disability minister Sir Stephen Timms, expected after the October 28 Budget. It published an interim report in July.

The Foundation recommends that PIP assessments should ask claimants about whether they face extra costs. Those eligible could then get lower ongoing cash awards but also one-off payments to make adaptations at home.

The report also suggests that the Department for Work and Pensions carries out more frequent but ‘lower stakes’ check-ins with claimants to see if their conditions have changed.

Lindsay Judge, research director at the Resolution Foundation, said: ‘The current system is failing on several fronts – claimants don’t trust it, awards don’t fully reflect the nature of disability today, and spending is rising unsustainably… A system more attuned to people’s needs would mean that around one-in-six current PIP recipients who don’t face significant limitations or additional costs because of their disability would no longer qualify for cash support.’

Last night a DWP spokesman said: ‘PIP is awarded based on a functional assessment that determines how a condition impacts a person’s day-to-day needs.

‘But as the Timms Review report made clear, PIP is no longer fit for purpose and the recommendations from its final report will lay the foundation for sustainable reform.’

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