Prove It Again

Having accepted the generous hospitality of Saudi Arabia, Helen Whately became, as she has remained, a staunch defender of its executions of minors and so forth. In 2020–2021, she claimed £3,250 per month for London rental accommodation, the highest among Conservative MPs at the time. That was £39,000 per annum, although her main home in Faversham was only 50 miles from Westminster. And she and her party are currently under investigation for their misleading claims about the benefits system. But what is she complaining about? Rachel Charlton-Dailey writes:

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is wasting money by reassessing amputees in case their condition has improved.

A damning report by anti-poverty charity, Z2K, has uncovered that hundreds of thousands of disabled people endure unnecessarily gruelling Personal Independence Payment (PIP) reassessments, despite their conditions being lifelong or progressive.

The Prove It Again report found that 86% of amputees were given fixed-term PIP awards, meaning they’re required to undergo regular reassessment. These reassessments determine whether someone’s disability or condition has changed.

Other conditions given fixed-rate awards include 62% of claimants with cerebral palsy, 73% with learning disabilities, 61% with Parkinson’s disease, 89% with multiple sclerosis and 83% with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Samuel Thomas, senior policy advisor at Z2K, said:

Disabled people should not have to keep proving the same thing over and over again when their condition is not going to improve. Routine PIP reassessments are causing needless anxiety, hardship and bureaucracy, with little evidence that they are saving money.

DWP tries to force disabled people off benefits

The reality is, the DWP wants to know whether someone’s condition has improved so they can reduce their benefits.

It’s absolutely absurd that amputees are being forced into demeaning reassessments to see if there’s been any ‘improvement’. Someone’s leg isn’t going to grow back.

The charity also found that 74% of reassessments resulted in no change to someone’s benefit entitlement. But for many, they couldn’t actually get more money as 28% of disabled people whose award stayed the same already received the highest level of PIP. Therefore, all that happened was that severely sick or disabled people were put under even more stress.

DWP PIP increases have nosedived since Labour took over. Between November 2025 and January 2026, less than one in 15 PIP claimants saw an increase in benefits after reassessment.

The PIP process

There are two types of PIP awards: fixed and ongoing. Anyone who receives an ongoing award is left alone for 10 years, then has to complete a six-page form to say whether their condition has changed at all.

Anyone on a fixed-term award must be reassessed every few years and fill out the initial form again, which is more than 40 pages long.

Forms aren’t kept on file, so you can’t just comment ‘No change’ — you must detail your condition in excruciating detail, including whether it makes you incontinent. You then will be reassessed by an often unsympathetic assessor, who is often not trained in safeguarding.

One disabled person told Z2K that the review process made them feel like they were in a criminal court.

…like I was being charged with crimes against being a disabled person or impersonating a disabled person.

They added:

It leaves me feeling like less of a person. Another reminder of everything I can’t do. Instead of being allowed dignity to live my life as I know how, I’m put through an ordeal.

DWP ignores guidance to force people into work

The DWP’s own guidance states that anyone who identifies with these descriptions should be given ongoing awards and spared reassessment:

• A level of functional ability which is not likely to change in the long-term
• High levels of functional impairment which are only likely to increase

However, just 7% of new claimants receive an ongoing PIP award.

Whilst PIP isn’t an out-of-work benefit, people fear that without an ongoing award, they could be forced into unsuitable work. This is a valid concern when the government constantly includes PIP claimants into out-of-work statistics.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) found that PIP claimants are less likely to try to work because they’re scared it will be used against them.

A JRF survey on barriers to accessing work support revealed that 70% of people receiving work-related disability benefits were worried that starting work would trigger a change of circumstances for PIP.

A DWP memo confirmed that while entering work won’t trigger an award review, decisionmakers can decide to do one if they fancy.

Recommendations from Z2K

One good thing is that the DWP is extending the reassessment period from two to three years, increasing to five at a person’s next review.

However, this isn’t for the claimant’s benefit. No. It’s because the DWP can’t handle the amount of reassessments it must complete.

Z2K has recommended that any claimant whose main disability or health condition is lifelong or progressive should be given an ongoing award.

The charity also says there should be a more streamlined reassessment process. If someone’s condition or needs haven’t changed, they shouldn’t be subjected to a review.

These are great recommendations, but it’s highly likely the DWP will completely ignore them. It’s too busy pretending that disabled people are being included in its farcical review to actually do anything that would benefit them.

And Frances Ryan writes:

Disabled people with lifelong conditions are repeatedly being put through “pointless” benefit reassessments, contrary to official guidance, new analysis suggests.

A study by the anti-poverty charity Z2K has found that hundreds of thousands of disabled people are going through “unnecessary” personal independence payment (Pip) reviews, “wasting” public money and “significantly harming” the mental and physical health of claimants.

Figures show 73% of people with learning disabilities, 86% of those who had an amputation, and 62% of claimants with cerebral palsy were given fixed-term awards – meaning they are required to undergo reassessments every three years. This also applied to 89% of claimants with multiple sclerosis and 61% with Parkinson’s – conditions with little to no prospect of significant improvement.

Samuel Thomas, senior policy adviser at Z2K, said: “Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) guidance says disabled people with lifelong and progressive conditions should not be reassessed more than once a decade – but the data shows these rules simply aren’t being followed.

“Shockingly high proportions of disabled people qualifying on the basis of lifelong disabilities like cerebral palsy, permanent hearing loss and amputated limbs are being forced to undergo pointless reassessments, even though their disabilities will not change.”

Almost 75% of planned award reviews last year – equivalent to more than 500,000 reassessments – resulted in no change to the person’s payments, Z2K found. This included many cases involving claimants already receiving the highest level of support, who were reassessed even though their health is unlikely to improve.

Of reviews that led to payments being changed, 10% were increased, while 16% were decreased or stopped.

After Pip was introduced by the coalition government in 2013 and lifetime awards were abolished, ongoing “light touch” awards – which mean a case is only reviewed every 10 years and typically without a face-to-face interview – were said to be reserved for people whose conditions are unlikely to change. But the Z2K study found ongoing awards are very rare, accounting for just 6.9% of new claims in 2025.

The default length of a fixed award – which the vast majority of disabled people are given – changed from two to three years for new Pip claimants last week. It is hoped the move will reduce costs and lengthy backlogs. But Z2K warned this change will not stop people with lifelong disabilities from being given fixed-term awards incorrectly – as it will just delay their reassessment for up to a year.

Thomas said: “The move is a welcome recognition of the system’s wastefulness, but it doesn’t address the core issues with the system. These changes do not affect the rules or guidance that are keeping disabled people wrongly trapped on fixed-term awards, and they won’t reduce the numbers of people subject to full reassessment. All they will do is make reassessments slightly less frequent.”

A source who was formerly an adviser to the DWP and is now a consultant expert on Pip told The Guardian he does not expect the number of reassessments for lifelong conditions to change.

At a time when welfare expenditure is increasingly under the spotlight, the findings bring into question how much public money is being wasted on unnecessary checks carried out by private companies, rather than used to support disabled people. The DWP currently spends more than £350m a year on Pip assessment contracts.

The Z2K study found the design of Pip award reviews – which now take an average of 38 weeks to complete – to be widely inefficient, frequently reassessing people “from scratch” rather than focusing on how their needs may have changed since their last review. This results in inconsistencies, errors and expensive appeals, the charity said.

The financial impact on claimants is also stark. Z2K say they regularly see disabled people having their support wrongly removed or reduced upon review, with many pushed into significant financial hardship, including a risk of homelessness.

Steve, formerly an NHS technician, had to give up work after sustaining a brain injury in a car accident in 2019. Since then, he has relied on disability benefits to get by. Backlogs meant the 46-year-old from south London only started receiving Pip in 2021, but it was reassessed just two years later. Upon review, he had his award reduced by £120 a month, despite his disability remaining the same.

With his Pip cut and universal credit his only other income, Steve struggled to pay his rent. He appealed, but navigating the system was arduous. “My brain injury makes paperwork much more difficult, particularly as the benefit forms are written in a way that’s hard to understand. It leaves me fatigued and anxious.”

In January 2026, the decision was overturned and Steve’s payments were increased to the original rate as well as backdated. In total, it took two-and-a-half years to get back to where he started. He is already worried about when he will next be reassessed.

“Even though I won, it felt hollow because I know I’ll have to go through it again in 18 to 20 months,” he said. “Each time I have less fight left. They take lumps out of you.”

A DWP spokesperson said: “We’re taking action to fix the broken welfare system we inherited, including by extending award review periods which will remove unnecessary pressure on disabled people and help to deliver savings of around £2bn.

“Rather than their diagnosis alone, the assessment considers how well someone can manage Pip activities so outcomes depend on individual circumstances.

“As part of our work to reform the system we also launched the Timms Review – co-produced with disabled people and their representative organisations – to make sure Pip is fit and fair for the future, including reassessments.”