150,000 people set to get higher disability benefits after U-turn
Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2018 12:47 pmMinisters agreed to pay vast numbers of people with mental health issues more Personal Independence Payments (PIP)
More than 150,000 people are set to get higher disability benefits.
Ministers agreed to pay vast numbers of people with mental health issues more Personal Independence Payments (PIP).
The victory for charities, campaigners and Labour leaves an estimated £3.7billion black hole in government finances over five years.
Ministers were accused of "duplicity and disarray" after sneaking out the news in a written statement after Parliament finished sitting for the week.
Friday's decision finally brings the government in line with a tribunal in November 2016, which said people who suffer "overwhelming psychological distress" when travelling alone should qualify more easily for PIP.
Ministers rewrote the law last year to avoid obeying the tribunal. But after an outcry by mental health charities, the High Court ruled the government's behaviour was “blatantly discriminatory".
Now the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has confirmed it will not appeal the High Court verdict.
Instead it will implement the original tribunal in full.
The DWP will write to everyone who is affected to identify those who are entitled to higher benefits.
All payments will be backdated to 28 November 2016.
I'll believe it when I see it. History is dotted with attention grabbing headlines which turned out to have no real substance.
