The Government have published a consultation paper (a “Green Paper”) about changes to disability and sickness benefits. One of the changes proposed is to make it far more difficult to qualify for Personal Independence Payment (PIP). This article explains how the Government proposes to make it more difficult to qualify, and how that might affect different groups of disabled people applying for PIP in the future.
Introduction To PIP
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is a disability benefit paid to people with significant long term impairments and conditions. PIP is not means tested, and is paid to both working and non-working people.
PIP is divided into two parts: daily living and mobility. Daily living covers ten “activities of daily living”, such as cooking eating, taking medication, washing, dressing, and communicating. Mobility covers two “activities”: being able to go out alone and follow a route, and your ability to walk.
The Government are not proposing any changes to the mobility part (or component) of PIP, so we are therefore not covering this component further in this article.
PIP Daily Living
The way PIP works is that people have to score enough points to qualify for a payment. There are ten “descriptors” within PIP Daily Living, and within each descriptor there are a number of levels. The first level is that you can do the activity described in the descriptor on your own, so you score zero points. If you cannot do the descriptor, you can score points depending on how much assistance or help you need to do the activity, or if you cannot do it at all.
If you cannot do an activity safely, reliably, as often as is needed, and in a reasonable time, you should be scored according to the help you would need to be able to do it in this way.
At the moment, to qualify for a Standard Rate Daily Living payment, disabled people need to score eight points counted across all ten descriptors. For example, if you scored two points in each of four descriptors, that would total eight points and qualify you for an award, even if you scored no points in any of the other descriptors.
At the moment, to qualify for a Enhanced Rate Daily Living payment, disabled people need to score twelve points counted across all ten descriptors. To score twelve points, a disabled person would need to be awarded at least four points for one of the descriptors.
What The Government Is Proposing
The Government is proposing to introduce a third test for PIP Daily Living only. There are no changes planned to the Mobility component.
The third test that the Government is proposing is that, in addition to scoring either eight or twelve points across all ten descriptors, a disabled person would need to score at least four points in one of those descriptors. Even if a disabled person scores eight points across ten descriptors, they would not receive a Daily Living award unless four of those eight points were scored on a single descriptor.
The Government say that this change will apply to all new claims, but also to all existing claims when they are reviewed. This means that a very large number of disabled people who currently receive the Daily Living award of PIP will lose it.
Who Will Still Qualify For PIP Daily Living?
The following table lists the disabled people who, in the future, will be able to qualify for the Daily Living component of PIP. To qualify, the disabled person has to meet one or more of the tests listed in the “Who Will Qualify” column. If they do not, then regardless of the number of points they have scored in the Daily Living assessment overall, they will not qualify for a Daily Living payment. We have also listed the disabled people who will qualify for Daily Living points, but not for four points in a single descriptor.
Remember, these changes have not been made yet, and have to be passed by Parliament.
| Descriptor* | Who Will Qualify | Who Will Not Qualify |
|---|---|---|
| Preparing food (prepare and cook a simple meal from fresh ingredients) | People who: – Need continuous supervision to keep them safe while preparing and cooking food – Need physical assistance from another person – Cannot cook and prepare food, even with supervision or assistance | People who: – Can prepare and cook a meal using any number of aids or appliances – Can physically prepare and cook a meal, but who need verbal encouragement or advice |
| Eating and drinking (cutting up food, putting in mouth, chewing, swallowing, or using tube feeding) | People who: – Need verbal encouragement to eat food – Are tube fed, and need another person to physically help them with their tube feeding – Cannot put food and drink into their mouth themselves at all | People who: – Can eat and drink using any number of aids or appliances – Need continuous supervision to eat or drink safely – Need assistance from another person to cut up their food – Are tube fed, but can manage their tube feeding themselves |
| Managing medicines and monitoring health | People who: – Need supervision, prompting, or physical assistance from another person to manage prescribed physical or mental health therapy, where the therapy takes more than three and a half hours per week | People who: – Need to use an aid or appliance to take medicines (such as a dosset box) – Need continuous supervision from another person to keep them safe when taking medication – Need prompting, reminding, or physical assistance from another person to take medication – Need supervision, prompting, or physical assistance from another person to monitor their health conditions |
| Washing and bathing | People who: – Need physical assistance from another person to be able to wash their upper body between the shoulders and waist – Cannot wash and bathe at all, and need another person to physically wash their entire body | People who: – Need to use an aid or appliance to wash or bathe – Need continuous supervision from another person to keep them safe while washing and bathing – Need prompting and encouragement to wash and bathe – Need assistance from another person to wash their hair – Need assistance from another person to wash their lower body below the waist – Need physical assistance from another person to get in or out of an unadapted bath or shower |
| Toilet needs and incontinence | People who: – Need physical assistance from another person to manage their toilet needs – Need physical assistance from another person to manage their incontinence of bladder or bowels | People who: – Need to use an aid or appliance to use the toilet and manage their toilet needs – Need to use a stoma or colostomy bag, incontinence pads, or an urinary catheter |
| Dressing and undressing | People who: – Need physical assistance from another person to dress or undress their upper body – Cannot dress or undress at all | People who: – Need to use an aid or appliance to dress or undress – Need prompting or encouragement from another person to dress, undress, or avoid inappropriate unclothed states – Need prompting, encouragement, or physical assistance to select appropriate clothing -Need physical assistance from another person to undress their lower body |
| Speaking and listening | People who: – Need support from a trained or experienced person to be able to express or understand spoken language (e.g. BSL signer) – Cannot express or understand spoken information, even with support | People who: – People who need to use an aid or appliance in order to speak or hear (e.g. hearing aids, cochlear implants) |
| Reading, and understanding signs and symbols | People who: – Need prompting, encouraging, or support to read a single sentence of written text – Cannot read at all (due to a disability, not having not been taught how to read) – Cannot understand signs and symbols at all | People who: – Need to use an aid or appliance (other than spectacles or contact lenses) to read written information (e.g. enlarger, magnifying glass) – Need prompting, encouraging, or support to read more than one sentence of written text |
| Engaging with other people face to face | People who: – Need support from a trained or experienced person to engage socially with other people, whether the support is given at the time, or before or after the social engagement – Cannot engage with other people due to the engagement causing overwhelming psychological distress – Cannot engage with other people due to behaviour which would result in a substantial risk of harm to them or another person | People who: – Need prompting, encouragement, or support to be able to engage with other people, but not from a trained or experienced person – Are visually or hearing impaired, and need prompting to understand non-verbal communication or social cues |
| Budgeting | People who: – Need prompting or assistance from another person to make simple financial decisions such as working out the cost of an item in a shop, or checking their change – Cannot make any budgeting decisions at all | People who: – Need prompting, assistance, or support to be able to manage complex budgeting decisions, such as calculating their household budget, managing and paying bills, or planning for a future large purchase |
*If you cannot do an activity safely, reliably, as often as is needed, and in a reasonable time, you should be scored according to the help you would need to be able to do it in this way.
Analysis
If these changes are made to PIP, only the most significantly disabled people will receive a Daily Living award in the future. Very many of the disabled people who currently receive a PIP Daily Living award will lose it at their first review. Although the Government is not talking about this change in these terms, they are a real and massive cut to the support provided for disabled people all over England and Wales.
More information about how these changes, if made, would affect typical groups of disabled people will be published shortly.