Thank you for contacting me about reforming Personal Independence Payment.
With almost a quarter of the population reporting a disability in 2024, the country is in clear need of a new conversation about how the benefits system can provide the support people need, is compassionate to claimants and fair to the taxpayer.
I understand from my ministerial colleagues at the Department for Work and Pensions that the Government is looking at a range of options for how best to support people with any additional costs they face due to their condition, such as one-off grants or vouchers in some cases. It is clear that some people who claim PIP have significant extra costs relating to expensive equipment, home adaptations or other specific costs related to their disability. For people facing these costs, the Government believes it could help to tailor support by directly addressing them, similar to approaches in some other countries.
This idea was included in DWP’s recent Green Paper, Modernising Support for Independent Living, which set out how the Government intends to reform our welfare system to make it sustainable for the future. With 33,000 new monthly awards for PIP, compared to 17,000 before the pandemic, I support the ambition to reform the disability welfare system and better support those most in need.
Alongside the Green Paper, the Government has launched an open consultation. The consultation has been launched to gather wider views on changes to the current disability benefit system. The consultation is running at the moment and will close on the 22nd of July. If you would like to contribute your views, you can do so at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/modernising-support-for-ind…
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.
Kind regards,
Graham
