FOI exposes the DWP regularly denying PIP to disabled people at risk of suicide

Figures obtained in a Freedom of Information request have revealed that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is significantly more likely to deny disabled Universal Credit and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) claimants at risk of self-harm and suicide access to Personal Independence Payment (PIP).

The damning revelation comes as the Labour Party government gears up to scrap Work Capability Assessment (WCA) – which could pose disproportionate harm to those very claimants.

DWP denying PIP to Substantial Risk claimants

Disability rights activist ‘LurgeeLiz’ has been tenaciously holding the DWP to account through repeated FOIs. Her latest exposed how the DWP has been awarding Substantial Risk claimants daily living PIP far less than for those claiming the health element at large:

🚨New DWP FOI

Substantial Risk are less likely to be in receipt of DL PIP & have a higher DL PIP qualification failure rate

50.3% are not in receipt of DL PIP Vs 36% of all 'Health Element'

29.6% tried & failed to qualify for DL PIP Vs 23% of all 'Health Element'#CareNotCuts pic.twitter.com/YB5NU0cMX9

— LurgeeLiz (@LurgeeLife) September 10, 2025

Notably, these are all claimants the DWP has determined work would be a ‘substantial risk’ to their physical or mental health. In other words, it’s disabled claimants who could be at risk of self injury or suicide if the department forces them to seek out employment. Notably, Substantial Risk claimants can qualify for Universal Credit LCW or LCWRA, or ESA without satisfying any of the descriptors in the WCA.

Crucially, Liz’s FOI showed that since November 2024, the DWP has denied daily living PIP at their latest assessment to:

• 63,000 Substantial Risk claimants getting Universal Credit’s Limited Capability for Work Related Activity (LCWRA) health element. Or 31% of those who have applied.
• 22,000 Substantial Risk claimants under Universal Credit’s Limited Capability for Work (LCW) regime. Or 53% of those who have applied.
• 36,000 Substantial Risk claimants in the ESA Support Group. Or 20% of those who have applied.
• 4,000 Substantial Risk claimants in the ESA Work Related Activity Group (WRAG). Or 44% of those who have applied.

Liz worked out that this meant overall that over half of Substantial Risk health element claimants are not in receipt of daily living DWP PIP. This compared to just 36% of all those claiming the health element of these benefits. She also pointed out that nearly 30% of Substantial Risk health element claimants had tried and failed to obtain it. By comparison, it was 23% for all those claiming the health-based entitlements.

In the context of Labour scrapping the WCA

Crucially, Liz was underscoring these damning figures in the context of the government’s impending manoeuvres to scrap the WCA.

The Labour Party government had affirmed its intention to follow through on the plan previous Conservative governments had laid the groundwork for.

The Canary and disability rights groups have been warning about the serious issues with this since the Tories first floated the idea. Notably, the concept of scrapping the WCA and aligning it with the PIP assessment is nothing new. It’s an idea previous Conservative governments have considered in some form since as far back as 2019.

In May 2023, the Canary’s Steve Topple highlighted the devastating impact of this plan. He explained how nonsensical it is to condition LCWRA on qualifying for DWP PIP:

The WCA and PIP criteria are completely different, as are the benefits. The DWP may be asking people for the same information about their illnesses or impairments. But the context is completely different. The WCA looks at what sick and disabled people can do regarding work. The PIP health assessment looks at what support people need. To combine both these assessments is simplifying people’s health. But more often than not, people’s health is not simple at all.

He also underscored that it would see the DWP stripping 632,000 people of their Support Group ESA or the health element of Universal Credit.

Now former DWP boss Liz Kendall confirmed these plans in the government’s flagship Pathways to Work Green Paper. When she introduced this in March, the Canary pointed out that:

The DWP’s current statistics don’t paint a rosier picture. As of August 2024, 780,250 Universal Credit claimants getting the health-related part also claimed PIP or DLA. There were around 1.4 million in the LCWRA group – meaning that just little over half of Universal Credit claimants eligible for the health part were also getting PIP or DLA.

In short, figures have little changed from this.

A previous FOI Liz made had uncovered that nearly half a million Universal Credit LCWRA and the ESA Support Group claimants have failed to get PIP’s daily living component. This was also since November 2024. Now, Liz’s new figures are obviously more cause for alarm.

The DWP under Labour: putting more lives at risk

The DWP will not be consulting on this. And the government has indicated it will include the change in its upcoming White Paper. It has primed this for publication in Autumn.

As Liz has pointed out though, the PIP assessment does not:

currently consider risk as a factor when determining eligibility.

Of course, the DWP PIP assessment will become the mode for access to Universal Credit’s health element and ESA. When this happens, it’s not clear how Substantial Risk claimants will factor into this. But, as it presently stands, Liz’s figures show that without this provision, many extremely vulnerable disabled claimants would lose their health-based benefits.

If that weren’t concerning enough, it would also mean the DWP would mandate they look for work. In short, it would coerce claimants at risk of suicide and self harm if subject to work search conditions to seek out employment.

This would be utterly abominable. However, it’s also nothing surprising from a DWP with the blood of countless disabled people on its hands. Now, under Labour, it’s continuing this shameful legacy.

Liz has put together a template letter for constituents to send to their MPs to express their opposition to the upcoming White Paper. You can find this here to customise and send to your MP.