A Freedom of Information (FOI) request has exposed that, far from the 300,000 people figure the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) says could lose part or all of their Personal Independence Payment (PIP) under controversial changes – it could actually be nearer a staggering 1.3 million people.
DWP PIP: cruel changes
As the Canary has previously reported, the Labour Party government has now laid down its plans for cuts DWP PIP and the health-based part of Universal Credit. DWP boss Liz Kendall launched its Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working green paper on 18 March.
The paper included a suite of regressive reforms to make it harder for people to claim disability benefits like PIP. As expected, the changes it’s proposing will target certain claimants in particular, namely young, neurodivergent, learning disabled, and those with mental health disorders.
Moreover, disabled people who need help with things like cutting up food, supervision, prompting, or assistance to wash, dress, or monitor their health condition, will no longer be eligible.
Specifically, it’s increasing the number of points a person will need to score in their DWP PIP assessment to access the daily living component of the benefit. This will now require people to score four points or more in a daily living category to claim it.
Alongside this, there’ll be cuts to out-of-work benefits like the LCWRA health-related component of Universal Credit. Once again, Labour additionally want to make this harder to claim, and all as it ramps up reassessments and conditionality requirements for doing so.
Lie after lie
However, Labour and the DWP have already lied about how many people the PIP changes will affect. As the Canary previously reported, according to a DWP impact assessment, as many as 370,000 current claimants (10%) could lose their PIP entitlement due to changes in eligibility rules set to be implemented in November 2026, pending parliamentary approval.
Crucially, about 430,000 future applicants are anticipated to be denied the benefit, creating an average annual loss of around £4,500 for those affected. People, including children transitioning from Disability Living Allowance to DWP PIP, will lose out. The figure is nearer 20% based on the DWP’s own data – plus 150,000 carers who will also lose their Carer’s Allowance.
What the department has also failed to even calculate is how many people will lose higher or standard rate Daily Living because of its DWP PIP cuts.
But an FOI has now revealed this.
It took an FOI to get the DWP to tell the truth
Martin Bonner submitted a request to the DWP. He wanted to know:
The number of claimants currently in receipt of PIP daily living component at:
a) The standard rate
b) The enhanced rateFor each of the above, please also state what percentage of these claimants were awarded less than 4 points in all of the ten daily living activities under which their eligibility is assessed.
The DWP replied – and the figures are shocking:
The DWP have responded to my FoI request. Their figures indicate that 87% of clamants currently receiving PIP daily living component at the standard rate, and 13% of claimants receiving the enhanced rate, are likely to lose their entitlement if the "score 4" changes go ahead. pic.twitter.com/yfm9naW3yF
— Martin Bonner 🦋 @argentas.bsky.social (@MartinJBonner) April 15, 2025
Essentially, due to so many people receiving less than four points on all Daily Living activities, around 209,000 people getting enhanced rate DWP PIP will lose it. Moreover, around 1.1 million people getting the standard rate will lose it.
That means in total, 1.3 million people could, on reassessment, lose their Daily Living element of DWP PIP.
What is not clear from this is how many of these people get standard or enhanced Mobility Element of DWP PIP. Therefore, it is impossible to say how many of the 1.3 million would lose their whole entitlement.
However, what is clear is that Labour and the DWP have been lying to the public. Far from affecting 10% of DWP PIP claimants, over a million may well get swept up in these cruel, vindictive reforms. Yet so far, Labour has failed to even address this.
Featured image via the Canary
