News

Further details about Personal Independence Payment (PIP) announced yesterday reveal who some of the biggest losers under the replacement for disability living allowance (DLA) will be.

Claimants who cannot walk more than 50 metres, even if they need to use some sort of aid other than a wheelchair to do so, will no longer be entitled to the enhanced (higher) rate of the mobility component on those grounds alone. Instead they will get only the standard rate. Many blind claimants also look set to lose their higher rate mobility award, only recently won after years of campaigning.

Claimants who cannot prepare and cook a simple meal will not be entitled to any award of PIP on those grounds alone, whereas they are currently entitled to the lower rate of the care component of DLA.

It was only yesterday, on the day before the House of Lords debates the issue, that the DWP finally published the proposed points thresholds for getting an award of PIP in a document entitled ‘​Personal Independence Payment: assessment thresholds and consultation’​. The timing of the release gives peers virtually no opportunity to work out who is and isn’​t likely to be awarded PIP and, more importantly, makes it impossible for disability groups to study the points system and write briefs for peers prior to the debate.

At this stage both the points and the thresholds are draft ones and may be changed in the light of further consultation. However, the government has said that it expects half a million fewer people to be receiving PIP in 2016 than would receive DLA, if these proposals are accepted.

The full article, with points and thresholds is here.