Nearly 800,000 disabled children face losing their health-related benefits as the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) confirms that they will not be eligible for protections promised under the Labour’s welfare concessions.
Following a massive backbench rebellion over the government’s welfare bill last week, work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall announced several tweaks to the legislation on Monday afternoon ahead of a crunch vote on Tuesday.
But this protection will not be extended to the 773,000 under-16s currently in receipt of PIP’s child equivalent, the Disability Living Allowance (DLA), the DWP has confirmed.
If the bill passes, the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) will essentially become more difficult to claim as the point-scoring system used at assessments is tightened. Currently paid to 3.7 million people, the benefit is designed to help with extra costs related to health or disability.
Around 1.5 million of these would not be found eligible under the new scoring system. However, Ms Kendall confirmed to MPs that anyone in receipt of PIP when the changes come into effect in November 2026 will be subject to the old, more lenient point-scoring system at their mandatory future reassessments.
Formerly one of the most common health-related benefits in Britain, DLA began to be phased out in 2013. However, it remains in place for children aged 0 to 15 as the main childhood disability benefit. Parents can apply for DLA on behalf of their children from the time of their birth onwards.
However, when a child in receipt of DLA turns 16, they are invited to apply for PIP. Their DLA payments will stop if they do not apply for PIP by the deadline they are given in this invitation.
The DWP has confirmed that the protections pledged for current PIP claimants under the government’s concessions will not be extended to any child currently in receipt of DLA.
This means any child receiving the benefit that turns 16 after November 2026 will be assessed for PIP on the new, stricter system.
The current system was criticised in March as a BBC investigation revealed that amount teenagers who were invited to make the transition from DLA then rejected from claiming PIP was already a third. Should the changes pass, this statistic will likely rise.
A further 350,000 adult-age DLA recipients could also face a more difficult assessment process for PIP in the future as they all face a mandatory move to the benefit in the future.
Following the phasing out of DLA, many recipients born before 1948 were invited to apply for PIP, subject to a mandatory assessment. The DWP has confirmed that these invitations have been paused for now, despite just over 350,000 adult-age DLA recipients being in the age bracket to get one.
These figures mean that, combined, over one million current disability benefit recipients could face tighter criteria to claim PIP, left out of Labour’s concession to offer protections for current PIP claimants.
The DWP has said that voluntary claims for PIP from DLA for adults can be made at anytime, meaning anyone who has yet to transition from the benefit may want to consider doing so should the bill pass on Tuesday.
James Taylor, executive director of strategy at disability equality charity Scope, said: “These devastating cuts will strip support back to the bone for disabled children and their families in the future.
“Life costs an enormous amount more for disabled people of all ages. Today’s disabled children could be up to £8,000 a year worse off than someone older with the same needs and extra costs.
“Hundreds of thousands of families will face a terrifying cliff edge in support as their children approach adulthood.
“The government needs to drop this bill, and properly engage with disabled people and MPs on how best to reform our welfare system.”
Derek Sinclair, senior adviser at disability charity Contact, said: “Last week’s announcements will be a relief to existing claimants. However, it does nothing to help future claimants, including disabled children not currently old enough to claim adult disability benefits.
“We face being left with an unfair two-tier system. Future claimants will find it harder to qualify for financial support, and the benefits paid to many will be substantially lower.
“Our research has found that families with a disabled child or young person are already among the poorest households in the UK. The government should scrap its current plans until it has first carried out a proper consultation with disabled people and their carers.”
The DWP did not provide a comment.
Last week, The Independent also uncovered the cases of PIP claimants who said they struggled to get the support they were entitled to, as over half say they feel ‘humiliated’ at the assessment.
