Personal Independence Payment
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the cost to the NHS as a result of the changes to PIP in the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper.
Answered by Sir Stephen Timms
No formal assessment has been made.
We are consulting on how best to support those who are affected by the new eligibility changes, including how to make sure health and care needs are met, and we are working closely with the Department for Health and Social Care on this.
At the heart of our reforms is a drive to protect the most vulnerable while ensuring disabled people and people with health conditions are given equal chances and choices to get jobs and stay in work. Through these reforms, we will be investing an extra £1bn a year in employment support by the end of the decade, in addition to work we have already begun. We know from evaluations and analysis that the department has published that good work is good for people’s mental and physical health, and that giving people support to get jobs provides an overall saving to the Exchequer and to society, including by reducing the costs and pressures on the NHS.
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