30 April 2024
The Government have recently announced plans to reform the disability benefits system, in particular the personal independence payment (PIP) process. The Government say they want to make changes to the eligibility criteria for PIP so it is fairer and better targeted.
They will be looking at:
- the assessment criteria and how a condition affects a persons life and to see whether the current entitlement threshold can be changed, particularly those people who have the need for aids and appliances.
- changing the qualifying period for PIP and also how it is assessed. This will be to bring it in line with the work capability assessment (WCA) reform within Universal credit which was an earlier consultation that we responded to last year.
The first stage of this is a consultation on these plans, which will take place over 12 weeks from 29 April to 23 July.
The DSA will be engaging fully with this consultation – and although we feel there are unlikely to be any significance changes affecting people who have Down’s syndrome, we will strive to ensure our members rights and entitlements are not affected by any forthcoming proposals.