The Timms review of the personal independence payment (Pip) disability benefit, ordered after ministers were forced to abandon proposed £5bn cuts last year, is due to be published this week. The interim report will be released ahead of a full report expected in the autumn.
What is the Timms review and why is it happening now?
Stephen Timms, the minister for social security and disability, established the review to overhaul Pip. It was “co-produced” with disabled people and aims to make Pip “fair and fit for the future”. A public consultation received 38,000 responses. The review is a direct consequence of last year’s disability cuts fiasco, where 126 backbench Labour MPs rebelled and overturned plans to cut £5bn a year from disability and sickness benefits.
Pip is paid to about 3.9 million people in England and Wales. It is assessed in two parts – daily living and mobility – with individual awards ranging from £30.30 to £194.60 a week. It is not means-tested or an unemployment benefit; it helps recipients with extra costs due to their disability, such as food, heating, and transport.
Why is Pip controversial?
Campaigners have long called for changes to the complex, stressful, and inconsistent assessment system. Many distrust the system, regarding it as broken and lacking fairness. In some cases, Pip system failings have had tragic consequences. Disability Rights UK said too many people experience assessments as “hostile, exhausting and disconnected from the reality of disabled people’s lives”. The charity attacked the system’s accuracy and its lack of understanding of fluctuating conditions like MS or mental illness. Typically, two-thirds of claimants who challenge their assessment outcomes at tribunal have the decision overturned.
The soaring cost of Pip has also generated debate. The number of Pip awards has grown rapidly, particularly among young adults. Current forecasts suggest £43bn a year will be spent on the benefit by the end of the decade, compared to £19.5bn in 2013. Successive governments – including the current one – and rightwing media have considered this unsustainable. The Timms review’s terms of reference say the point is not to find ways to cut Pip spending, but also state there is no scope to introduce changes that would increase spending above current projections. Despite this, there is nervousness among some disabled people that the review will ultimately seek to make savings.
What could the review mean for recipients of Pip?
The Guardian exclusively revealed that the review will conclude Pip “is not working”, is “not fit for purpose”, and needs bold and radical reform. Some campaigners look to Scotland’s adult disability payment (ADP) as a model. ADP keeps broadly the same eligibility criteria but simplifies the application, which is mainly self-assessed, with decisions usually based on medical evidence rather than routine face-to-face meetings.
