THE first ever full Review of its kind into the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) system is finding that millions of disabled people are being failed by a benefit that is no longer working.

PIP was introduced in 2013 to contribute towards the extra costs of disability and support independent living but has never been fully reviewed despite shifting trends in health and disability, and changes in wider society and the workplace. Around 10-million working-age people report living with a disability – equivalent to 24% of the working-age population, compared with under 17 per cent in 2013/14. There have been greater increases in the prevalence of disability among young people and a rise in mental health conditions.

Last week, the Timms Review steering group published its Interim Report, marking a significant milestone in the first Review of this scale ever to be co-produced by the UK Government. The Interim Report has drawn on nearly 40,000 responses to the Call for Evidence.

The key findings of the Report are that: there is a deep-rooted problem in the design and delivery of PIP with the assessment described as dehumanising and stressful; while PIP is widely valued as a cash benefit, it is not working as intended for disabled people or wider society; while many disabled people say that PIP is vital in helping them meet the extra costs of disability and participate in everyday life, others stated PIP creates barriers to participating fully in work, social and community life.

This is particularly true for people with fluctuating conditions, less visible conditions or multiple conditions; the process of claiming, under assessment criteria designed more than a decade ago, was viewed negatively by 90 per cent of respondents, and described as at times “dehumanising”, “degrading” and “stressful” and the use of supporting evidence too often inconsistent. Only five per cent of responses about the process were positive. The Report also found low levels of trust in the system and the need for it to be built back, both for disabled people and those with long-term conditions, as well as for the taxpayer.

The Review launched last October with the aim of making sure PIP is fair and fit for the future in a changing world and helps support disabled people to achieve better health, higher living standards and greater independence, including through employment. It will also take account of related work underway across the wider health and social care system, including the Milburn Review into the increase in the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET).

Both reviews are due to conclude later this year, providing a foundation for effective and sustainable reform. The steering group will now continue to gather evidence through evidence sessions with experts and workshops around the country, while moving into the next phase: designing and testing recommendations for change, with the final recommendations due to be published this autumn.