Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is a benefit for people aged over 16 and under State Pension age with a disability, long-term illness or mental health condition who need help completing daily tasks inside their home or getting around.
The latest statistics from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) show there are now more than three million people in the UK, including some 322,387 living in Scotland, receiving financial support of between £24.45 and £156.90 each week through PIP - the benefit is paid every four weeks so this amounts to between £97.80 and £627.60 every payment period.
PIP awards are not indefinite, they can last between a few months to the maximum of 10 years - known as a ‘light touch’ review - and are in palace to ensure individuals receive the right award reflecting any changes in their condition, something the DWP clarified on Monday.
Lib Dem MP, Wendy Chamberlain, asked DWP what guidance was in place to help ensure that PIP claimants with “degenerative conditions are identified and recorded for the purposes of scheduling future reassessments”.
In a written response on November 28, DWP Minister Tom Pursglove explained a PIP assessment is conducted to determine the “needs arising from a health condition or disability” - not the condition itself.
He added that regular award reviews are a “key feature of PIP” which are in place to ensure “payments accurately match the current needs of claimants”.
However, he said when recommending an appropriate review period, assessors are asked to consider when a “significant change in functional needs is likely, giving due regard to the expected progression of a condition and whether it is likely to improve, stay the same, or worsen”.
Me Pursglove told the North East Fife MP: “It may be appropriate to set a specific review period for a claimant with a degenerative condition as, if the condition is likely to deteriorate over time, the claimant may become entitled to a higher rate of PIP.
“However, claimants with very high levels of functional impairment who are on the highest PIP awards, and whose needs are only likely to increase, should receive an ongoing award of PIP, with a light touch review at the 10-year point.”
The DWP recently published proposed new payment rate changes for PIP from April 2023 following Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s announcement that State Pension, means-tested and disability benefits will increase by 10.1% - in line with September’s Consumer price Index (CPI) inflation rate.
Here are the new payment rates for PIP and Adult Disability Payment, the devolved benefit replacing PIP in Scotland, from April 10, 2023.
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) / Adult Disability payment
Daily Living Component
- Enhanced: £101.75 (from £92.40)
- Standard: £68.10 (from £61.85)
Mobility Component
- Enhanced: £71.00 (from £64.50)
- Standard: £26.90 (from £24.45)
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People claiming PIP will never need to report any of these six changes to DWP
