What the Timms Review must set out to achieve
For those who do not know, the Timms Review is an independent look into Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in the UK.
I wrote an article for Care Management Matters, entitled ‘What the Timms Review Must Set Out to Achieve’, and I wanted to share it with our supporters, as securing the right outcomes from this review is of critical importance.
This is what I wrote …
Disability benefits are vital in combating societal barriers
Disabled people with complex needs have the same rights to connection, communication, opportunity and control as anyone else.
At Sense, we hear every day how vital disability benefits are in combating the societal barriers which keep disabled people with complex needs from accessing those rights.
For Charlotte, one of our experts by experience, her disability benefits enable her to afford an adapted car, making it possible to get to work and see her friends. Emma, another of our experts by experience, feels pride in the autonomy she gets from managing her finances.
Why PIP is a lifeline for disabled people like Megan
Megan is a disabled mum, influencer, and disability advocate from Suffolk. She’s claimed PIP for three years. Megan explains how PIP supports her daily life, and why any proposed changes to PIP are scary for disabled people.
We know that our welfare system is beset with problems
Yet our welfare system is beset with problems which create, rather than break down, barriers.
Our research found that half of disabled people with complex needs described the benefits assessment process as humiliating, and two in five said the Department for Work and Pensions had communicated with them in ways that did not meet their access needs.
Financially, the system is also falling short. Disability benefits are too low and as a result, 43% of disabled people with complex needs who receive benefits are in debt because their support does not cover essential costs.
This review mustn’t focus on reducing costs.
Therefore, it is vital that the Timms Review does not focus on reducing costs. We know that cutting welfare rarely delivers true savings. It often shifts costs elsewhere, increasing pressure on already stretched health and social care systems.
With more than half of disabled people with complex needs claiming Personal Independence Payment (PIP), their voices must be central to the Timms Review. Yet the barriers they face mean they are too often excluded from shaping the policies that affect them.
The Review must take proactive steps to ensure disabled people with complex needs, including those who draw on social care, can meaningfully participate.
Disabled people with complex needs are experts in how the system works in practice: where it supports independence, and where it falls short. Their insight is essential to building a welfare system that is accessible, dignified and fit for purpose.