DWP accused of PIP power grab as civil servants set to make key decisions over benefit claims

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Benefit claimants are preparing an overhaul of the PIP regime from the DWP in the near future

The Labour Government is preparing to grant the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) more powers to handle Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claims.

It is understood that ministers are pressing ahead with a nationwide expansion of a programme that strips healthcare professionals of central responsibilities for PIP, handing them instead to DWP civil servants who are overwhelmingly unlikely to hold clinical qualifications.

Notably, the Disability News Service claims ministers plan to do this before they have received a thorough evaluation of the scheme's effects.

Documents obtained via a freedom of information request reveal that the Transformed Decision Making pilot is set to be extended this autumn, despite only preliminary findings being available at that stage.

The papers, which include ministerial updates sent to Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden and Social Security Minister Sir Stephen Timms, contain no reference to concerns about the safety of claimants affected by the changes.

Under the existing system, healthcare professionals, including nurses, paramedics and physiotherapists, evaluate how a claimant's condition affects their ability to perform ten daily living and two mobility activities, then recommend which difficulty descriptors should apply.

Those recommendations, along with a written report, are forwarded to DWP case managers who decide whether the evidence supports the suggested level of PIP entitlement.

According to a whistleblower who raised the alarm with Disability Rights UK, assessors are now confined to basic fact-gathering.

A March 2026 memo stated that the programme would be "refocusing Healthcare Professionals on providing clear, factual evidence, while reinforcing the role of DWP Case Managers to make the final decision using all available evidence".

The critical task of selecting and justifying descriptors, and determining entitlement, has effectively been transferred to civil servants. The pilot launched in March with contractor Ingeus handling a few hundred assessments per month across south-east England, London and East Anglia.

By June, the scheme had been widened considerably, with three additional private sector contractors, Capita, Maximus and Serco, bringing TDM to the rest of England and Wales, covering roughly four per cent of all PIP assessments.

Around 1,800 assessment reports had been completed and more than 1,200 PIP entitlement decisions made under the new approach by the time of the June ministerial update.

Last month, Mr McFadden asserted that Labour will stop "simply writing a cheque" to people of working-age benefits.

Speaking to The Guardian, he said: “I don’t believe Government fulfils its responsibilities simply by writing a cheque. I think we owe people more than that.

"Of course, for people who can never work, the system must always be there for them, and it always should be. But for those who could work, or could change their situation, then we’ve got to help them do that."