Personal Independence Payment and Universal Credit

Lord Shinkwin Excerpts

Monday 2nd November 2026 Lords Chamber

[The Lord Speaker (Lord Forsyth of Drumlean)]

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Shinkwin, is taking part remotely. I invite him to speak.

[Lord Shinkwin (Con) [R]]

My Lords, one of the greatest threats to PIP and, for example, Motability—I declare an interest as a beneficiary—is the growing resentment among the public at the seemingly inexorable extension of eligibility, over which, I should add, Motability has no say. What measures are the Government taking to reduce eligibility and thereby put PIP on a sustainable footing for those who need it most?

[Baroness Sherlock (Lab)]

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord for his question. I have already said what we are doing, but, just for example, the Milburn review is looking at the position of young people, because almost 1 million—one in eight—of our young people are not in employment, education or training, and a growing number of those are on the grounds of sickness, disability or the inability to work. We also have a growing number of people across the age range who are simply not able to work. We need to make sure that the system supports them and gets them into work. The Milburn review will look at young people. The Timms review, by my right honourable friend Stephen Timms, is reviewing whether PIP is fit for purpose—the interim report suggests that it is not. Both reports will be coming out this month, the Government will respond soon after that and we will be legislating in the new year.