Appeals allowing people with mental health conditions to qualify for disability benefits are costing taxpayers millions and shifting control of welfare policy from Parliament to the courts, a new report warns.
The report by right-wing think-tank Policy Exchange argued that judges, through appeals tribunals, have gradually expanded who qualifies for Personal Independence Payment (PIP), often going beyond what Parliament originally intended.
The think-tank said returning these awards to pre-pandemic levels could save taxpayers £750m a year.
“Entitlement has not been primarily determined by Parliament, but rather by judicial decisions that have cumulatively expanded the practical boundaries of eligibility for thousands of claimants,” the think tank has claimed.
In practice, this means that decisions about who receives support are increasingly being made in courtrooms, not in Parliament, the report states.
The number of claimants waiting for a PIP appeal has almost quadrupled to 53,000 in the last four years, according to His Majesty’s Court and Tribunal Service figures. The number of successful appeals fell from 68 per cent to 63 per cent in the three months to September.
In the introduction to the report, former justice secretary Sir Robert Buckland warned Parliament has ceded too much power to the courts.
“Instead of lawmakers setting clear rules on who should get support, judges have been left to reinterpret the law at appeal stage – effectively deciding who qualifies for benefits,” he wrote.
“The discretionary power [Parliament] has given to judges to interpret the law should be returned to the lawmakers. The system is clearly unsustainable.”
Policy Exchange highlighted that changes to the “mobility” element of PIP – which measures a person’s ability to plan journeys and get around – have allowed people with mental health conditions, including stress reactions, anxiety disorders and eating disorders, to access support originally designed for those with physical impairments.
While PIP is administered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), disputed decisions are often challenged through the social security appeals system.
Claimants who are turned down can appeal to a tribunal made up of a judge and medical or disability experts, who have the power to overturn DWP decisions.
The report claimed that appeals tribunals now operate like a “parallel assessment system”, where new evidence can be introduced, and decisions on eligibility are repeatedly re-determined.
“The appeals system has become a substitute for good decision-making rather than a check on it,” said Jean-André Prager, the report’s author.
“We need to restore parliamentary authority, improve accountability, and use technology to deliver a fairer, more sustainable system.”
Policy Exchange also warned about rising administrative costs. Spending on taxpayer-funded translation and interpretation services for tribunals has jumped 80 per cent since 2020/21, reaching £12.8m a year, as more complex appeals are processed.
“The scale of public expenditure absorbed by this system is breathtaking,” the think tank said.
Government reforms aim to curb rising claims
The report comes as the Government pursues a significant overhaul of the welfare system through the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill, introduced earlier this year.
Ministers say the reforms are designed to slow the rapid rise in claims linked to “common mental health conditions” such as anxiety, stress and depression, and to focus support on people with the most severe impairments.
Earlier this year, the Office for Budget Responsibility forecast that total spending on health and disability benefits would rise from £64.7bn in 2023-24 to more than £100bn by the end of the decade.
A key change is the introduction of a “four-point rule” for the daily living component of PIP, due to take effect from November 2026.
Claimants will still need eight points overall to qualify, but must now score at least four points in a single activity.
In practice, this means that someone who struggles a little with several daily tasks – such as cooking, budgeting, or planning a journey – will no longer automatically qualify unless one of these difficulties is severe enough to score four points on its own.
The Government also plans to abolish the work capability assessment by 2028, meaning PIP assessments will become the sole gateway for extra health-related financial support.
People who do not meet the new four-point rule would also lose access to the higher health element of universal credit.
From April 2026, the health top-up will fall from about £432 per month to £217, offset slightly by a small increase in the standard allowance. The Resolution Foundation estimates some claimants could lose up to £6,300 a year by the end of the decade.
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Alongside legislative changes, ministers launched a wide-ranging review of PIP led by Disabilities Minister Sir Stephen Timms, due to report in autumn 2026.
Writing in The i Paper, Timms said: “Health trends have shifted. Society has changed. But the support we offer hasn’t changed with it… disabled people won’t be an afterthought.”
The Government has also pledged a £1bn employment support package, including recruiting 8,500 additional mental health workers, and is consulting on further changes such as face-to-face assessments and limiting UC health support for under-22s with milder conditions.
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