Work is one of best things for mental health, says Stride ahead of PIP shakeup
The Work and Pensions Secretary has said that getting back to work is “good for mental health” as he launches a consultation on reforms to the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) system.
Mel Stride said he wanted to have a “grown-up, sensible conversation” about the future of the benefit, used to help disabled people with the cost of living, amid a huge increase in people accessing the payment.
He told Sky News: “I want to ask the question, is it fit for purpose given the world that we’re in today in which mental health issues, sadly, present more of an issue than they did a decade ago?”
“We should be thinking about whether straight cash transfer benefits are the answer for everybody, or whether someone at least might benefit from treatment that will help their condition and, in many cases if they’re out of work, help get them into work.
“Because what we know about work is, all the evidence shows this, it is good for our mental health.
“That’s why I’m having this consultation is that the terrain has changed. And we have to think very carefully about how we move forward with these benefits.”
Speaking to BBC Breakfast on Monday morning, he added that getting people into work would benefit many people with long-term mental health conditions.
“Work is one of the major ways in which mental health conditions can improve – that sort of routine that one has, interaction with colleagues, conversations at the water cooler. All of those things, that sense of purpose that work brings, are really important,” he said.
It comes following a warning from a leading disability charity that the PIP reforms must not penalise mental health conditions and that better-trained assessors must be brought in to stop incorrect decisions.
Scope, which is broadly supportive of the reforms, have criticised the fact that the consultation has been “bundled together and conflated with issues relating to sick notes and unemployment benefits”.
“To conflate that with PIP as a disability benefit is really actually quite disingenuous,” Louise Rubin head of policy and campaigns at Scope, told i.
“I think what’s got lost in all of the noise around the PM’s speech is that PIP is not an out of work benefit. It is there to help you with the extra cost of disability,” Ms Rubin said.
“We have been calling for reform of PIP. Whilst [the Government’s] starting point seems to be primarily cost cutting, ours is about all of the horror stories that we hear from disabled people day in and day out,” she added.
James Taylor, Scope’s executive director of strategy, said it was “hard to have any faith that this consultation is about anything other than cutting the benefits bill”.
“Life costs a lot more for disabled people, including people with mental health conditions… The government needs to end this reckless assault on disabled people and focus on how to fix the real underlying issues,” he continued.
The Prime Minister announced his plans to reform the benefits system earlier this month which the Government said will “explore changes to the eligibility criteria, assessment process and types of support that can be offered so the system is better targeted towards individual needs and more closely linked to a person’s condition rather than the current ‘one size fits all’ approach”.
Ministers argue the reform is needed as the cost of PIP is expected to grow by 52 per cent from 2023/24 to 2027/28 – an increase of £32.8bn.
