\n\t\t\t\t\tClaimants with mental health problems and \u2018invisible\u2019 physical conditions may struggle to get enough points\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n
People with mental health problems and \u201cinvisible\u201d physical conditions could be among those most likely to lose out from Labour\u2019s disability benefits cuts<\/a>, experts have warned.<\/p>\n It comes as The i Paper\u2019s analysis of official data shows the kind of health conditions \u2013 and the age groups \u2013 which may be mostly likely to fall foul of the reforms<\/a>.<\/p>\n Disability campaigners have urged ministers to rethink \u201ccruel\u201d plans to restrict access to personal independence payment<\/a> (PIP<\/a>) in a drive to cut \u00a34.8bn from the welfare bill.<\/p>\n Labour wants to reduce the PIP caseload by 400,000 people by the end of the decade<\/a>, with the reforms expected to come into force from November 2026. <\/p>\n Just over 3.7 million people currently receive PIP worth up to \u00a3750 a month to support their daily needs and to get around independently.<\/p>\n However, under the changes, PIP applicants must score four points in at least one activity category to get a daily living payment, worth up to \u00a3440 a month.<\/p>\n Applicants need to get at least eight points in total for the standard daily living PIP award.<\/p>\n The changes mean that having less severe difficulties in completing tasks \u2013 which can typically lead to scores of one, two or three points in a series of categories \u2013 will no longer be good enough.<\/p>\n The latest Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) data<\/a> shows that \u201cinvisible\u201d physical conditions \u2013 including back pain, arthritis, musculoskeletal issues and chronic pain syndromes \u2013 are the least likely to score four points or more.<\/p>\n Some 71 per cent of PIP claimants with musculoskeletal problems and 68 per cent of those with chronic pain syndromes did not score four points or more in any category at their last assessment.<\/p>\n People with anxiety and depression also appear vulnerable to the benefit reforms.<\/p>\n Some 48 per cent of PIP claimants with these mental health conditions did not score four points or more.<\/p>\n Mikey Erhardt, of Disability Rights UK, said it was \u201chard to work out the Government\u2019s logic\u201d for reforms which were aimed at getting more people into work when PIP was not an out of work benefit.<\/p>\n \u201cSome of those physical conditions where you\u2019re less likely get four points \u2013 back pain, musculoskeletal conditions \u2013 can be the result of poor work conditions, physically demanding jobs.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are the jobs you\u2019re least likely to get reasonable adjustments [from employers]. So it seems cruel, because how are those conditions going to suddenly improve to allow people to get into work?\u201d<\/p>\n James Merrell, a registered nurse who advises people on PIP claims at CWS Limited, thinks that those with mental ill-health and invisible conditions were likely to struggle under a tougher framework.<\/p>\n Merrell said those with severe physical disabilities that are \u201cvisually apparent\u201d may be more likely to keep their PIP.<\/p>\n But he warned that many of those living with invisible physical conditions were dealing with severe, chronic pain and struggled to function day to day.<\/p>\n \u201cTo reduce their needs to whether they can score four points on an arbitrary, narrow test is not only clinically unsound, it\u2019s disgusting and humiliating,\u201d the expert added.<\/p>\n There are fears that a review of the whole PIP assessment process could make it tougher for those with mental health conditions. The Government has continually highlighted the huge rise in PIP claims related to mental health in recent years.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen it comes to the PIP assessment review, all the noise, everything the Government has said, would suggest they would want to make the process harder for mental ill health and distress,\u201d said Erhardt.<\/p>\n Minesh Patel, associate director of policy at Mind, said the charity was worried that the reforms will \u201creduce or restrict PIP for people with a mental health problem who desperately need it\u201d.<\/p>\n The DWP data also suggests that people with learning disabilities, autism and cerebral palsy are among those most likely to avoid falling foul of the four-point rule PIP changes.<\/p>\n