Eligibility for the daily living and mobility component of PIP will be reviewed by ext Autumn.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) recently confirmed no changes to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) will be applied until after a “comprehensive review” of the disability benefit has concluded, expected to be completed by next Autumn.
Minister for Social Security and Disability Sir Stephen Timms will chair the ‘Timms Review’ alongside Sharon Brennan and Dr Clenton Farquharson CBE and be co-produced with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, and other experts. Twelve members of the public will be selected to join the co-chairs.
In a written response to shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately, Sir Stephen told the Conservative MP: “The steering group is being recruited through an open and accessible Expression of Interest process, which ran from 30 October to 30 November. We are now considering applications and will provide an update shortly.”
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More than 340 people applied to be part of the steering group, 12 members will be selected to join the co-chairs.
The MP for Faversham and Mid Kent had asked DWP ‘when the membership of the Timms Review steering group will be published’.
Sir Stephen said: “We have launched the Timms Review to ensure Personal Independence Payment is fair and fit for the future. The Review will be co-produced with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, and other experts.
“On 30 October, I announced that I will co-chair the Review alongside Sharon Brennan and Dr Clenton Farquharson CBE. We will oversee a steering group of around a dozen members, which will set the Review’s strategic direction, priorities and workplan.
“The steering group is being recruited through an open and accessible Expression of Interest process, which ran from 30 October to 30 November. We are now considering applications and will provide an update shortly.”
Close to 10 million working age people are disabled, and this number has grown by nearly 3 million since 2013/14. There have been greater increases in the prevalence of disability among young people and a rise in mental health conditions.
However, despite these shifts, PIP has never been fully reviewed until now.
More than 3.8 million people in England and Wales are currently receiving financial support through PIP. That figure is expected to rise before the end of the current parliament, putting pressure on the sustainability of the non-means-tested benefit, worth up to £749 every four weeks.
The UK Government says the aim of this review is to make sure PIP fairly reflects the reality of the impact of people’s conditions in the modern world, as well as considering the needs of disabled people more widely.
It will look at the role of PIP in enabling disabled people to live independently and fully participate in society, as well as the role of the assessment in unlocking wider support.
Eligibility criteria for the daily living and mobility component will be reviewed.
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