Instead Stephen Timms says the government’s review of the benefit is focused on avoiding the current “dehumanising” process for applicants, reports Kumail Jaffer, Local Democracy Reporter
A minister has responded to a question around whether there could be a London weighting in personal independent payments (Pip) as the government considers changes to the benefits system.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), the minister seemed to rule out recommending any sort of extra payment for Londoners despite the higher costs of living they face, suggesting the assessments themselves would be the focus of changes.
Sir Stephen Timms, the minister for disability, told the LDRS: “We issued a call for evidence in March and had 38,000 responses – actually, London weighting hasn’t been a big theme of the evidence that we’ve gathered, and it’s not something we’ve really talked much about in the group.
“The concerns in the group are about accessibility of the benefit. A huge number of people said that the assessment for Pip is dehumanising, because it requires you to run through lots of things you cannot do, and it’s a pretty horrible experience.
“What I think we’re going to be setting out in my report is ideas for a different kind of assessment which is not dehumanising. I don’t think it’s necessary to have such a horrible process in order to apply for disability benefits. We’ve got to come up with an assessment that does a better job of assessing what the additional costs are that people have, and how those should be supported.”
Timms was speaking on a visit to Auticon, a firm which hires autistic adults to work as consultants, in London Bridge. His upcoming review, to be released later this month, will decide whether the current Pip system – which helps disabled adults with extra living costs – is fit for purpose. Around 4.1 million people currently claim the benefit, which is worth up to £843 a month.
This includes almost 500,000 Londoners.
Building more accessible homes for disabled Londoners will be a crucial part of the government’s drive to get people back into work, Timms said.
Meeting ambitious housebuilding targets in London and nationally must be paired with adapting to accessibility requirements, he said. Last year a report from the London Assembly’s housing committee found a “chronic” shortage of housing suitable for disabled Londoners.
The new London Plan mandates that 90% of all new homes must meet “accessible and adaptable standards”, meaning they can be adapted easily for future disabled residents – but just 23% of properties completed in 2024 were compliant with this.
However, Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan has said that the new Social and Affordable Homes Programme, which will run until 2036, will boost the number of social and affordable accessible homes due to the requirement for 10% of new dwellings to be wheelchair friendly.
Asked if City Hall needs to invest more in ensuring London’s newbuilds are up to scratch, Timms said: “That is an important part of what we need to achieve over the next years. As you know, the government’s set aside £40billion to invest in social and affordable housing, the biggest programme in living memory.
“We do need to make sure that the needs of people who’ve got particular requirements around accessibility of their housing are properly met in the course of that programme.”
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