Work and pensions secretary incorrectly claims PIP is worth ‘thousands of pounds a month’

The PIP [Personal Independence Payment] benefit is thousands of pounds a month.

During an interview on BBC Breakfast earlier this week, work and pensions secretary Mel Stride said that the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) “is thousands of pounds a month”. 

However, as others have pointed out, even if an individual received the maximum amount of weekly PIP entitlement, they’d receive around £800 a month, not thousands.

When we asked the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) about Mr Stride’s claim, they said that he’d misspoken, and said that he had intended to say PIP payments were thousands of pounds a year. 

In other interviews on Monday morning, Mr Stride did get this right. He told Times Radio [1:17:05] that claimants are getting “potentially thousands of pounds every year”. 

If an MP makes a false or misleading claim on broadcast media they should ensure it is appropriately corrected, and make the correction publicly available to anyone who might have heard the claim. This could be by issuing a correction on social media or, if they are a minister, publishing a note on the government website. They should also ensure the broadcaster is made aware of their error.

What is PIP and how much is it?

PIP is a government benefit that provides financial assistance for the living costs of people over the age of 16 who have a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability that means they have difficulty doing everyday tasks due to their condition. 

PIP is split into two parts—a daily living part, if someone needs help with day-to-day tasks, such as preparing food or using the toilet, and a mobility part, which assists people with physically moving around and leaving their home.

DWP assesses claimants for how difficult they find these tasks. Individuals may receive one or both parts of PIP payments, and how much they receive depends on their level of difficulty. 

The weekly amount people can receive for daily living ranges from £72.65 to £108.55, and from £28.70 to £75.75 for the mobility part. 

If an individual receives both parts of PIP, at the higher weekly rate, they would receive around £800 a month, not thousands of pounds. 

Someone receiving the lower weekly amount of both parts of PIP receives around £440 a month.

An individual on the higher weekly rate of both parts receives around £9,500 a year in PIP, while someone given the lower weekly rate of both parts will receive around £5,300.

Image courtesy of Chris McAndrew.