Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of their commitment to treat mental health as seriously as physical health, what assessment they have made of the findings of MIND that over 160,000 people with mental health problems would be affected by their proposed changes to the Personal Independence Payment.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) ensures parity of treatment between mental and physical conditions by looking at the overall needs of an individual, not which conditions they have. However, recent legal cases have broadened the way the PIP assessment criteria are interpreted. The Government has, therefore, made drafting changes to the PIP regulations to help ensure that PIP is being delivered in line with its original intent. The changes to the regulations will not result in any claimants seeing a reduction in the amount of PIP previously awarded by the Department for Work and Pensions.