The Department for Work and Pensions has issued an update over making health and disability benefits “more sustainable”. The DWP has used its latest Touchbase newsletter to list all the key changes for people on benefits.
This includes increasing the number of face-to-face assessments across Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) to “ensure people are receiving the right support”.
The Labour Party Government said it will also increase WCA reassessments capacity and reduce DWP PIP recipients being called for award review when their function has not improved. The DWP also confirmed most working age and disability benefits will rise by 3.8 per cent from April
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On 1 September 2025 Sir Stephen Timms confirmed that the group that will be working with him on the review of the PIP assessment is separate to the disability advisory panel which was announced in the ‘Get Britain Working’ White Paper.
He said: “I will, of course, talk to the disability advisory panel about the arrangements, but they will be separate structures.”
On 30 October 2025 he announced that he would be co-chairing the review with Sharon Brennan and Dr Clenton Farquharson CBE and that together they would oversee a steering group with a majority of its membership made up of disabled people or representatives of disabled people’s organisations to be recruited through an expression of interest process, which launched on 30 October on gov.uk and runs for four weeks.
He also stated: “The steering group will not work alone; it will shape and oversee a programme of participation and engagement that brings together the full range of views and voices.
“We are ready to listen and learn, and we are committed to continued transparency and evaluation as this work continues. The review is expected to report to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions by autumn 2026, with an interim update expected ahead of that.”
Reforms to the Motability Scheme have also been announced. These include ending the VAT relief on top-up payments, a one-off voluntary payment required to lease more expensive vehicles on the Scheme, and the application of Insurance Premium Tax on leases.
Tax changes will not impact vehicles substantially adapted for wheelchair users, or existing leases, and Motability will continue to provide vehicles at no additional cost to the value of eligible disability benefits.
