Stop ‘dangerous’ disability benefit reforms, charities say

PIP payments, worth between £290 and £737 per month for about 2.6 million recipients, are aimed at helping with the extra costs associated with having a disability.

The payments are available to people with a long-term physical or mental health condition who have difficulty carrying out everyday tasks, even if they are working.

The Conservatives raised concerns that spending on the benefit is expected to grow by 52% from 2023-24 to £32.8bn by 2027-28, driven in part by a rise in claimants with mental health conditions.

Launching a public consultation on a proposed overhaul in April, then-Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said he was concerned about PIP’s “sustainability”, arguing it was unclear that it was effective and providing value for money.

His consultation suggested the reforms could involve removing cash payments for those with mental health conditions, while offering improved access to mental health treatments as an alternative.

However, charities say replacing regular cash payments would create further barriers to support, risking pushing more disabled people into poverty.

Bryony Moss, who has cerebral palsy and serious problems with her mental health, said she was “anxious” and “really nervous” that she could lose hundreds of pounds a month as a result.

The 26-year-old from Buckinghamshire, who needs help with most daily tasks, told the BBC: “I use quite a large chunk of that money to pay for my support worker to help me.

“But I also use it to help me with going to my horse riding. So I ride with Riding for the Disabled and I do that because it’s a form of physio for me, it keeps me active but it’s also a safe space where I can be myself.”

Bryony said her independence would be severely impacted by losing her support worker, because she would be forced to rely on her parents whenever she wanted to go anywhere.

Bryony’s mother, Sasha, 64, said ministers should also consider the reasons why a rising number of people were claiming PIP because of problems with their mental health, suggesting that it was partly down to insufficient access to early interventions, including a lack of counsellors in schools.

She recalled that her daughter had suffered with her mental health while being bullied at school for her disability, but received “very little support” from overstretched NHS services, contributing to Bryony’s struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and severe depression in adulthood.