The Department for Work and Pensions has all but openly admitted the Timms Review will lead to Personal Independence Payment, or PIP, cuts. DWP minister Pat McFadden told members of the Commons work and pensions committee this week there was “nothing to stop” the review from recommending reforms that would cut spending on PIP.
He said: “What we were saying in the terms of reference was we were sending a signal to the reviewers not to come forward with a big increase in cost package. There’s nothing to stop them coming forward with measures that reduce costs, but we didn’t want them to come forward with a review that simply said, ‘let’s pay much more into the system.’”
The cabinet member told the committee PIP conditions have “changed over recent years… and in particular there has been an increase in conditions like anxiety, depression, neurodiverse conditions and so on.
“Is this benefit fit for purpose in the way it is designed in dealing with that variety of conditions? And I think that’s a very interesting question for the reviewers,” Mr McFadden added, saying: “When I went to speak to them a few months ago in one of our sessions, that’s the question I put to [them to] consider.”
Liberal Democrats committee member John Milne told McFadden there was a “strong media narrative at the moment that welfare spending is out of control”, saying: “Welfare spend as a percentage of GDP is about where it was under the days of Maggie Thatcher, who was not known for her welfare generosity.”
He asked McFadden: “Do you think there’s a responsibility on government to put out a more balanced view of the statistics, because if you think the problem is twice as big as it is, your policy response might overreach by twice as much as it needs to?”
Mr McFadden said: “Cost is a consideration. Cost isn’t a dirty word. We have to look at the cost of the system. I am aware of the cost of the system. I am aware of these steep increases in health and disability benefits that are often quoted.”
It comes in the week it emerged the number of PIP claimants had hit 4 million. Data shows that 4,010,120 people were entitled to the benefit across England and Wales at the end of April. The Tories immediately suggested claimants should no longer be given cash and instead be offered treatment or equipment to support them.
The figure is up 2 per cent since January and 12 per cent since the election, the DWP statistics showed. Most (83 per cent) of those receiving PIP, which is meant to help people with long-term physical or mental conditions with everyday tasks, were of working age. And more than one in three (37 per cent) received the maximum £194.60 a week.
