DWP disability minister Stephen Timms repeatedly misled parliament by untruthfully claiming that personal independence payment (PIP) claimants over state pension age “will not be affected by the proposed changes”. Timms has finally admitted that the DWP currently have no idea how to avoid the proposed 4-point rule affecting pension age PIP reviews.
Ever since last April, Benefits and Work has been trying to get to the truth of Timms frequently repeated statement in connection with the proposed 4-point rule that: “In keeping with existing policy, people over State Pension Age are not routinely fully reviewed and will not be affected by the proposed changes.”
We pointed out that pip claimants over state pension age are subject to a light touch review every ten years and that they may also ask for a change of circumstances review if their condition changes.
In the year to January 2025, 12,300 pension age PIP claimants had a planned award review.
In addition, 19,238 pension age PIP claimants had a change of circumstances review in the same period.
We wanted to know how claimants in these circumstances could avoid the four-point rule, unless the DWP was exempting all claimants over pension age.
We even went so far as to ask readers to ask their MPs to put two specific questions to Timms on this subject.
Conservative MP Alicia Kearns kindly asked those questions and Timms replied on 16 May.
In relation to whether PIP claimants of pension age who request a change of circumstances review will be required to score at least four points in one daily living activity, instead of answering “Yes” or “No”, Timms fudged desperately:
“All claimants are required to notify the Department of any change to their circumstance, be that an improvement or deterioration in their needs. Upon notification of a change, a Case Manager will consider what further action might be required to ensure the claimant is receiving the correct level of support.”
However, Chris Law of the SNP asked the same question as Alicia Kearns and on 6 June received a different answer:
“In keeping with existing policy, people on state pension age are not routinely fully reviewed and will not be affected by these changes. We are considering further how the 4-point minimum requirement will affect claimants over state pension age who report a change of circumstances, and we will provide further information in due course.”
In other words, pension age PIP claimants who request a change of circumstances review will be subject to the 4-point rule and run the risk of losing their daily living award altogether, unless the DWP can come up with a way to get round it, which they haven’t yet.
And, in truth, the same will almost certainly apply to claimants subject to a 10 year light-touch review. Because it isn’t a review unless you make a decision on continuing entitlement and you can only do that using the law as it stands, not the law as you would like it to be.
It’s yet another example of the ways in which the Green Paper reforms are half-baked, at best.
When he became disability minister, Timms claimed that he would create a new era of transparency at the DWP, as part of an effort to restore trust in the department.
In this case, Timms could have been transparent and truthful from the outset by saying that the 4-point rule would not affect “the majority” of pension age PIP claimants. He chose not to – over and over again - and that choice leaves claimants with no reason to trust anything he tells them in the future.
Many thanks to the excellent Rightsnet website for welfare rights workers for alerting us to the written question and answer.
