Claimants handed disability benefits for acne and writer's cramp

Telegraph

a day ago

Benefit claimants with conditions including acne and writer's cramp have been handed additional disability payments from the Government, official figures show.
A new analysis of data from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) has found a sharp rise in a number of conditions suffered by people claiming extra money because of mobility problems.
This included 13 people who received enhanced personal independence payment (Pip) for 'factitious disorders,' which are conditions when a patient 'pretends to be ill or deliberately produces symptoms of illness', according to the NHS definition.
Other problems reported by claimants receiving 'enhanced' mobility payments of £77 a week included five people with acne, six with writer's cramp – a movement disorder that makes it hard to use the hands – and 31 with food intolerances.
It came as the Government launched a review into Pip, after a rebellion of more than 120 Labour MPs against Sir Keir Starmer's plan to reduce the number of people who can claim it.
Sir Stephen Timms, a welfare minister, will now run a consultation with disabled people, charities and other stakeholders to determine how the rules should be changed.
The Labour government argues that it must try to reduce the cost of welfare in Britain, which has seen a sharp rise since the Covid-pandemic mostly through more claims for mental illness.
The reforms proposed by Sir Keir would have cut payments for people on universal credit who said they had a 'limited capacity' to work, to encourage them to employment.
He also proposed cutting Pip, which is paid to claimants regardless of whether they work, and consists of a 'daily living' and 'mobility' allowance.
But after the rebellion, ministers have scaled back the reforms and will now only save around £2.5 billion a year by the end of the decade, compared to £5 billion initially projected.
The climbdown means that all existing Pip claimants will continue to receive their current benefits, and the stricter rules will only apply to new claimants from November 2026.
An impact assessment of the updated plans, published on Monday, found that 150,000 people would still be pushed into relative poverty by the new rules, compared to 250,000 under the earlier reforms.
Ministers argue that fewer people will actually be in poverty because the impact assessment did not include the effect of a £1 billion-a-year drive to get people back into work.
Some Labour MPs said they still planned to vote against the changes on Tuesday, but the Government is expected to get legislation through the House of Commons with the support of some former rebels.
The spiralling cost of disability benefits was laid bare by a new analysis of the data by the TaxPayers' Alliance campaign group, which highlighted examples of claims that warranted the £77 weekly payment under DWP rules.
The total number of claimants receiving enhanced Pip in April 2025 was 1.75 million, up from 734,136 in January 2019.
The largest increases, in line with other benefits data, were granted to people with mental health issues including autism, anxiety and depression.
But other rises involved people with factitious disorders, which increased to 13 claimants from 11.
The NHS says that Munchausen syndrome, one factitious disorder, happens when a patient's 'main intention is to assume the 'sick role' so that people care for them and they are the centre of attention'.
The health service's website adds: 'Some people with Munchausen syndrome may spend years travelling from hospital to hospital faking a wide range of illnesses.
'When it's discovered they're lying, they may suddenly leave hospital and move to another area.'
John O'Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'While England is a sicker country than it was before the pandemic, the size of the increases for many of these conditions surely cannot be believed by even the most gullible of MPs.
'Britain is in desperate need of a politician who has the courage to tackle this system head on to ensure that taxpayers' money is being protected while those who genuinely need help receive it.'
The Labour about-turn on benefits reform means that far fewer people are expected to be denied payments than under the Government's original plans.
In the Autumn Statement, the DWP projected that the Pip caseload would continue to rise, jumping from 3.7 million to 5.1 by 2029/30.
The expected annual spend has been forecast to increase by £18 billion by the end of the decade without reform.
The cuts first suggested by Labour would, according to updated figures in the Spring Statement, see the Pip caseload rise by 423,000 less than that initial estimate, although it would still be about a million more people higher than current levels.
Alongside other reforms relating to universal credit, the IFS estimated total savings of £4.6 billion at the time, but roughly £3 billion of that saving is now set to be lost, taking total savings to less than 0.5 per cent of the welfare budget.
The number of people claiming Pip has risen by 55 per cent since January 2020, with one in seven (13.7 per cent) of people now successfully claiming it.
The largest increases are among people with mental health issues, and psychiatric disorders are now responsible for 38 per cent of claims.
Some commentators have suggested that the increase in successful claims has been driven by online or over-the-phone Pip assessments, which previously happened mostly in person.
Prospective claimants can consult websites that advise which keywords to use to score the maximum number of points on the assessment.
Almost 6 per cent of young adults are claiming for mental health issues, up from less than 2 per cent in the 2000s, Telegraph analysis shows.
In some parts of the country, as many as one in six adults are on disability payments. In Liverpool, Walton, the proportion has increased from 11 per cent to 17.3 per cent. This is compared to just 2.8 per cent in Mid Buckinghamshire.