The Department for Work and Pensions is under increasing pressure to pull an "emergency handbrake" on benefits payments for certain claimants, a move that could affect hundreds of thousands of people receiving disability benefits.
Four Groups Targeted
The Tony Blair Institute has called for a crackdown on four specific groups: "mild to moderate depression and anxiety disorders", "stress-related and adjustment disorders", ADHD, and "non-specific low back pain and common musculoskeletal conditions." The proposed changes would impact disability benefits like Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Universal Credit, and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).
Potential Impact
Data from the DWP shows 396,070 claims for mixed anxiety and depressive disorders, with a further 59,000 claims for anxiety and 59,000 for stress reactions. Mood disorders account for 144,000 claimants, and learning disabilities, including ADHD, make up 171,971 claims. In total, hundreds of thousands of claimants could lose their payments if the proposals are implemented.
Criticism from Charities
The calls have been savaged by critics, including leading mental health charities like Sense, Mind, and Mencap. They argue that removing support for these conditions would be detrimental to vulnerable individuals who rely on these payments to manage their disabilities.
Fiscal Motivation
The think tank warned of a "fiscal imperative" to reform the system, noting that incapacity benefits accounted for nearly £30 billion of DWP spending in 2024-25, while PIP accounted for nearly £23 billion. Together, these benefits represent about half of all payments to children and working-age adults.
The institute, led by former Labour Party leader Tony Blair, stated: "For reform to be effective, the priorities of a sustainable welfare state must be clearly defined and the challenges fully understood. Not only is the world of work changing but the burden of illness is too. Mental health is now a dominant category of illness for working-age adults in Britain, while the impact of AI on the labour market is evolving in real time."
Public Sentiment
The institute described the proposal as an "emergency handbrake informed by public sentiment," citing exclusive YouGov polling that shows people are starting to tire of a system they perceive as unfit for purpose. Around half of respondents believe that some conditions currently recognised by the system do not, in practice, limit people's ability to work.
