PIP Benefits Explosion: Anxiety and Depression Handouts Nearly Triple to £4.3bn Since Covid While Autism and ADHD Bill Hits £2.2bn and “Back Pain” £1.6bn
The scale of Britain’s PIP benefits explosion has been laid bare in new official figures, with handouts for anxiety and depression nearly tripling to £4.3 billion since Covid, payments for autism and ADHD hitting £2.2 billion and those for “back pain” reaching £1.6 billion. The Mail has the story.
The grim picture emerged in a breakdown of how much Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is being paid out for specific conditions.
The figures come amid growing alarm at Labour’s failure to bring forward any significant reforms to the welfare system.
Keir Starmer has ruled out any legislation in the King’s Speech amid fears of another revolt by MPs – after the last bid to trim £5 billion from costs was humiliatingly killed off.
Official projections have revealed that the annual bill for PIP is set jump from £25.9 billion when Labour came to office to a staggering £44.9 billion by the end of the decade.
In 2019-20 the cost of the benefit was £13.7 billion, with warnings that too many individuals with ‘low-level’ issues are being supported by the taxpayer.
The Government stressed PIP had been rising in real terms for years, insisting it is taking action such as more face-to-face assessments to curb costs.
PIP is meant to help people aged over 16 in England and Wales suffering “long-term physical or mental health conditions”. It is not means tested or linked to whether they are working.
Claimants can get up to £110 a week towards “daily living”, and a maximum of £77 a week more if they have mobility problems. …
The Department for Work and Pensions, headed by Pat McFadden, slipped out a breakdown of PIP spending by condition for 2024-25 yesterday – the first time the details have been released.
It showed that £4.3 billion was handed out to people with anxiety and depression during the year, up from under £1.6 billion in 2019-20.
PIP for ADHD and ADD has risen from just £137 million before Covid to £560 million. At the same time spending on autism conditions has surged from £565 million to £1.72 billion. The increase could reflect a sharp increase in diagnosis.
The cost of the more specific classification of “stress reactions” was up from £146 million to £401 million, and “mood disorders” accounted for £939 million – from £438 million four years earlier.
In 2019-20 payments for back pain were £869 million, but by 2024-25 that had hit £1.63 billion.
Worth reading in full.
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Shocking waste of taxpayers’ money, but that’s part of the Communist Fabian Plan to Destroy the West by enfeebling the population with welfare dependency, which will be cut off if the recipients don’t vote “The Correct Way”.
Faking an illness to get money is a form of Prostitution.
It’s also a Satanic Temptation to persuade people to lie, cheat and deceive, thereby damaging their own souls.
I keep getting the impression that many of our non native new friends seem very keen to sign up for anything on offer, such as a PIP……Maybe the explosion in the amounts paid out has a link, especially as it’s all done over the phone…no need to actually see a Doc.
Sue Reid of the Mail was on GB News this morning investing the vast immigrant welfare fraud and how much they are sending back home that does not benefit our economy. What would an extra £30bn spent here do. She referred to a telling stat that over half of the Pakis here are on benefits.
There are online influencers who make a living from coaching people through the application process.
Quite why people with mild autism and ADHD require any financial support is completely beyond me.
Being on benefits used to be looked down on. Now apparently it’s a lifestyle choice.
If you make it clear you will pay well for something then you can expect to be offered a lot of it.
In this case the government will pay well for diagnoses of X and Y and Z, so the market (doctors and patients) provides a lot of diagnoses of X and Y and Z.
I’m not saying they are all fake.
A Doctor friend of mine said that there is no such thing as ADHD—–Where were all these malady’s and mental issues in the 1930’s and 40’s?——If you claimed you had depression in 1950 who was going to pay your rent and feed your children? —NO ONE. I worked beside 2 men in their 20’s and 30’s who took their 13 weeks(or whatever it is) off with “depression”. They returned for a week and went off with depression again.——-C’mon, this is a racket?
The Blob are a pain in my… neck.
Can I claim?
There is clearly something badly wrong with the PIP situation, however as a full-time carer for my 61 year old wife who receives enhanced PIP for both daily living and mobility I can only say that obtaining it was difficult and we are currently going through a PIP review process less than 3 years from her initial award and that is after being rejected for PIP 10 years ago despite 2 appeals after being forced to apply for it despite having a lifetime award of Disability Living Allowance dating from the early 1990s. Her health has worsened significantly but we struggled financially for many years, she has been unable to work for more than 30 years.
If people are being given PIP easily then they’re operating in a different system from the one we have to follow. The stress caused to someone with multiple serious conditions is enough to make her much worse.
Interesting…exact opposite if what I have heard….but perhaps it depends on yr Doctor and the area you live in ..
I wish yr wife all the best and pray life becomes easier for you both.
We were lucky that we managed to get the assistance of an excellent GP who also helped my wife to be prescribed HRT at the same time. Without her help we would have struggled, Citizens Advice have also been excellent.
We will have to see how the PIP review goes, however my wife is more unwell than she was 3 years ago so perhaps the assessors will grasp that. Even at that time we had to ask for a Mandatory Reconsideration before the full award was forthcoming.
Life is OK but the stress is bad enough just dealing with her illnesses, I had to give up work so it’s not been easy as neither of us has yet hit our state pension age.
Any chance of Lammy becoming the new Minister of Obesity?
You mean like the Welsh Health Ambassador Athika Ahmed?
A rising tide of chronic inflammation is leading to mental and physical disease in the UK population. The result is increasing welfare payments and increasing pressure on the NHS. The pull yourself together and get back to work approach won’t work. The problem lies with our diet which has changed for the worse over the last half century.
Our food is too calorie dense, with a relative deficit of nutrients, fibre and essential bacteria. The eat well guidelines are good but lack specific advice about the deficit of lactose fermenting bacteria. We all should consuume yoghurt on a daily basis to maintain an optimal microbiota and reduce chronic inflammation.
Autism has increased since the 1990s, and although we might be sceptical about some of the claims of those with “neurodivergence”, there is no doubt that autism is a real disease, it is on the increase and it will cost the Uk exchequer a great deal.
None of the political parties will get the economy moving without urgent action. We cannot compel people to have a good diet, but we can offer clear advice about what is a good diet.
(PDF) Autism research should focus on the intra-mucosal microbiota
The McCullough Foundation has evidence that vaccines are responsible for a significant number of autism diagnoses. Of course the mainstream claims that this has been debunked.
Have a look at their publications and make up your own minds.
What’s the difference between having a genuinely life altering disability/condition and being good at creative writing?
It seems like, when it comes to PIP, the answer is now bugger all.
Bugger all is also the answer to, what’s the difference between someone in genuine need of asylum and someone with an activist lawyer/advisor who’s good at creative writing.
Dish welfare out like confetti and you destroy the very fabric of civilisation. —-Or as someone once pointed out “The difference between a welfare state and a totalitarian one is—–a matter of time” (Ayn Rand)——People become so dependent of government hand outs they cannot fend for themselves and are putty in government hands.
I’m not claiming benefits for it, but I certainly developed an anxiety disorder during the Covid mania, so I’m not surprised if others did too.
Too many vac-cines unnecessary because the vast majority benefitting from clean water, good sanitation and much improved nutrition can withstand measles, mumps, rubella etc and have a more robust immune system as a result. I am fairly certain that those other afflictions are a result of the aforementioned medical interventions.
Everything the Government is doing is creating more anxiety and depression.
I therefore conclude that it is deliberate; they want people on welfare …. presumably to justify the introduction of a Universal Basic Income.