Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) cuts to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) will impact more older people than any other age group. That’s according to the department itself – which was forced to release the data via a Freedom of Information (FOI) request. It shows not only that the Labour Party government has been supressing the true extent of the DWP PIP cuts again – but also that you’d be forgiven for thinking it has a problem with older people.
DWP PIP: cruel changes
As the Canary has previously reported, the Labour Party government has now laid down its plans for cuts DWP PIP and the health-based part of Universal Credit. DWP boss Liz Kendall launched its Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working green paper on 18 March.
The paper included a suite of regressive reforms to make it harder for people to claim disability benefits like PIP. As expected, the changes it’s proposing will target certain claimants in particular, namely young, neurodivergent, learning disabled, and those with mental health disorders.
Moreover, disabled people who need help with things like cutting up food, supervision, prompting, or assistance to wash, dress, or monitor their health condition, will no longer be eligible.
Specifically, it’s increasing the number of points a person will need to score in their DWP PIP assessment to access the daily living component of the benefit. This will now require people to score four points or more in a daily living category to claim it.
Alongside this, there’ll be cuts to out-of-work benefits like the LCWRA health-related component of Universal Credit. Once again, Labour additionally want to make this harder to claim, and all as it ramps up reassessments and conditionality requirements for doing so.
Lie after lie
However, Labour and the DWP have already lied about how many people the PIP changes will affect. As the Canary previously reported, according to a DWP impact assessment, as many as 370,000 current claimants (10%) could lose their PIP entitlement due to changes in eligibility rules set to be implemented in November 2026, pending parliamentary approval.
Crucially, about 430,000 future applicants are anticipated to be denied the benefit, creating an average annual loss of around £4,500 for those affected. People, including children transitioning from Disability Living Allowance to DWP PIP, will lose out. The figure is nearer 20% based on the DWP’s own data – plus 150,000 carers who will also lose their Carer’s Allowance.
What the department has also failed to even calculate is how many people will lose higher or standard rate Daily Living because of its DWP PIP cuts. The public found this information out after the DWP was forced to release data via an FOI.
As the Canary previously reported, Martin Bonner submitted a request to the DWP. He wanted to know:
The number of claimants currently in receipt of PIP daily living component at:
a) The standard rate
b) The enhanced rateFor each of the above, please also state what percentage of these claimants were awarded less than 4 points in all of the ten daily living activities under which their eligibility is assessed.
The DWP replied – and the figures are shocking. Around 209,000 people getting enhanced rate DWP PIP Daily Living will lose it. Moreover, around 1.1 million people getting the standard rate will lose it.
That means in total, nearly 1.4 million people could, on reassessment, lose their Daily Living element of DWP PIP.
What is not clear from this is how many of these people get standard or enhanced Mobility Element of DWP PIP. Therefore, it is impossible to say how many of the 1.3 million would lose their whole entitlement.
DWP PIP cuts hitting older people hardest
However, now another FOI has revealed the ages of people set to lose out – and this is just as shocking, too:
The DWP have responded to my FOI request regarding ages of PIP claimants (and the proposed new 4 point rule).
I've submitted a similar FOI re ESA and LCWRA claimants, ages and numbers not meeting the 4 point PIP rule. I'm still awaiting the DWP response re ESA and LCWRA. pic.twitter.com/gIrneH8Lwa— Sharonimo55 (@Sharonimo55) May 9, 2025
What Sharon found was that:
the *majority* of people [1.09 million] set to lose PIP Daily Living (nearly 70%) are over 50, and 660,000 of them over 60…
So, on top of Labour’s callous cuts to Winter Fuel Payments, the DWP is now hammering many of these same people with cuts to PIP. So far, there seems no signs that Labour will be changing course – despite mounting opposition from its own MPs. With calls for ministers to resign, and growing public anger, it remains to be seen how long Keir Starmer will maintain this position – but given his track record so far, it is sadly likely he will.
Featured image via the Canary
