Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to PIP eligibility on the (a) health and (b) economic security of people living with mental illnesses.

No such assessment has been made. We are taking action to focus PIP more on those with the greatest needs, by introducing a new eligibility requirement. The change to the PIP eligibility criteria will mean that people with a higher level of functional need – for example, people who are unable to complete activities at all, or who require more help from others to complete them – still receive PIP.

We are also taking action to get the basics right and improve the experience for people who use the system of health and disability benefits as set out in the Green Paper. This includes exploring ways to improve PIP assessments through digitalising transfer of medical information, using evidence from eligibility for other services to reduce the need for people with very severe health conditions to undergo functional assessments and improving communication with people receiving awards who are expected to remain on disability benefits for life.

We are consulting on how best to support those who are affected by the new eligibility changes, including how to make sure health and eligible care needs are met. PIP is not based on condition diagnosis but on functional disability as the result of one or more conditions, and is awarded as a contribution to the additional costs which result.

We also intend to launch a wider review of the PIP assessment which I will lead, and we will bring together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this and to start the process as part of preparing for a review. We will provide further details as plans progress.

Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper has been published here ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’(opens in a new tab).A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.