Disability benefits assessors to end focus on claimants washing and cooking ...Middle East

Disability benefit assessments look set to be overhauled so that the focus is no longer on a person’s ability to carry out day-to-day tasks.

But the timing of the shake-up threatened to reignite a Labour rebellion against welfare cuts despite the Government’s partial U-turn to see off a revolt.

Assessments, which currently evaluate a potential claimant’s ability to perform activities like cooking, dressing, washing and using the toilet, will be reviewed to make sure that the impact of long term health conditions are also considered.

Other factors such as personal circumstances and living environment could also help to determine whether a person is deemed eligible for benefits.

Criteria for receiving the Personal Independent Payment (PIP) benefit is set to be replaced following a review of how accurate it is.

The details of the Timms review were set out by the Government on Monday as part of concessions offered to rebel Labour MPs to avoid an embarrassing Commons defeat for Sir Keir Starmer’s welfare reforms.

But the rebellion – which could be the biggest the PM has faced in his premiership – began gathering momentum again.

MPs expressed concerns that the newly-designed assessment process would not be set out until after the review reports back in the autumn of next year. By this time, tougher eligibility for new PIP claimants will have already been introduced.

Debbie Abrahams, one of the key architects of the rebellion, said she would not support the bill without further compromise, arguing that PIP eligibility should not be tightened until after the review has ended.

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said the reforms would be “co-produced with disabled people,” as she sought to reassure Labour backbenchers.

Alongside plans to restrict eligibility for disability and sickness benefits, ministers have long-promised to reform the assessment criteria.

And, unveiling details of the plans, the government confirmed the points system – used to determine if someone is eligible to claim benefits – will be looked at.

Changing the process is not “to generate proposals for further savings,” the review’s terms of reference claimed.

Kendall said the review would look at “activities descriptors and the associated points to ensure these properly capture the impact of long term health conditions and disability”.

Disability Minister Sir Stephen Timms, who is leading the review, said it would also consider other evidence alongside the functional assessment, “including related to an individual’s personal circumstances and environment”.

The goal of the review was to ensure welfare assessments are “fair and fit for the future,” he said.

How PIP eligibility currently works

Under the current system, a person wishing to claim PIP is assessed as to their ability to be mobile or to carry out an everyday activity.

These include preparing food, eating or drinking unaided, the ability to wash and use the toilet without help and dressing.

Other activities assessed relate to mobility, such as looking at a person’s ability to move around, or socialising and being a part of society – looking at things like managing money, talking, reading and mixing with others.

For every activity a person may struggle to complete, they would be awarded a certain number of “points” depending on the scale of their difficulty.

Needing an appliance or supervision to be able to wash would amount to 2 points, for example, whereas being totally unable to wash qualifies for 8 points.

A minimum of eight points across a range of tasks is currently needed to qualify for the standard rate of PIP – but the Government wants to tighten the rules so that any new claimants must also qualify for four points in a single activity from November 2026.

Several Labour MPs have raised concerns about the outcome of the Timms review coming after the introduction of the four point threshold. Senior Labour backbenchers including Abrahams, Meg Hillier, and Helen Hayes, who were all key in securing last week’s welfare concessions, all raised concerns in the Commons.

Hillier’s questioning of the “rationale” for delaying the Timms review until after the new threshold is introduced, after she signalled she would back the Bill after last week’s concessions, suggested the Government could face fresh trouble in tomorrow’s debate and vote.

Meanwhile rebel ringleader Rachael Maskell, who will vote against the welfare reforms, told The i Paper: “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see the deep holes in the strategy – none of it holds together and we will be signing a blank cheque if we vote for the Bill tomorrow so have to vote against. So we vote to exclude people from PIP but do not know the criteria on which the exclusions are based. It is utter chaos. Of course I will vote down this disastrous Bill.”

The rebels are still expecting a few dozen MPs – or as many as 50 – to vote against the legislation on Tuesday, which would be the biggest revolt Starmer has faced in the Commons yet.

The i Paper understands, however, that Government whips do not expect Speaker Lindsay Hoyle to select any new version of a rebel reasoned amendment.

This means MPs could be forced to vote against the Bill to voice their opposition – a more extraordinary step than some would be willing to take.

Labour rebellion reignites – as benefits cut will push 150,000 into poverty

An updated assessment of how the reforms would impact poverty levels has fuelled opposition as it showed 150,000 adults would still be pushed into relative poverty, down from 250,000 before the Government’s partial U-turn.

Rebels also hit out at alleged “bullying” tactics from the whips in the run-up to the vote, in an apparent bid to dampen the revolt.

Maskell said: “I think a lot of colleagues are really resolute about voting against because we know this is going to cause so much harm to disabled people and it’s not going to save any money.”

She said she hasn’t had any pressure from whips, but added that “one colleague described it as bullying over the weekend”.

“This kind of bullying, bullish approach, this threatening to remove the whip, just demonstrates how desperate they are, but they’re just not listening,” Maskell said.

Veteran left-winger Jon Trickett said the poverty assessment showed the concessions made by ministers did not go far enough.

“It is not acceptable that the so-called concessions on the welfare bill will apparently still put 150,000 people into poverty,” he said, adding: “I urge colleagues to join us in the no lobby.”

Another rebel MP echoed his concerns: “I find it incredulous that colleagues who were prepared to rebel because 250,000 people are being pushed into poverty would then say they find it completely acceptable for 150,000,” they said.

“We haven’t seen the impact assessment on those who are in the lesser part of the two-tier system – are they taking this into account? I’m unclear.

“There are going to be people after this Bill has gone through who, through no fault of their own, will be in a system whereby they are paid less and they will likely end up in poverty, while someone who was disabled a year ago or two years ago won’t.

“That’s fundamentally wrong and the two-tier system element of it feels like something that was cooked up in the back room of No 10.”

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