The Personal Independence Payment (PIP) will be replacing Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for people of working age, and is due to be introduced for new claimants from April 2013. For people who currently get DLA, it's important to note that there is no automatic transfer to PIP, so between October 2013 and March 2016 the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will be writing to people, inviting them to make a claim for PIP. Each person's entitlement will be assessed against the new criteria. If you haven't already done so, do have a look at our website page on changes to the welfare system - there are some great resources available to help untangle the acronyms and complex transition arrangements. We receive regular updates about PIP through DWP stakeholder meetings.
We share the concerns of organisations like Scope (expressed for example in their paper entitled The Future of PIP: a social model-based approach) and Mind (focusing on the impact on people with mental health problems) about the way in which PIP is being brought in and the impact of the expected 20% reduction in spend compared to DLA. As we have said earlier, we think that there is a better way: people getting a service that meets their needs, and taxpayers getting a service that is able to learn where it is failing and how to change.
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