Most of the press are reporting today that the ‘proposed’ freeze to benefits won’t now happen. I never thought that it would tbh, as I think the increase is only due to be 1.7% and it would have been seen as very mean spirited.
Of course, Motability customers won’t see any increase in the Mobility component anyway, as it goes to the scheme, not the customer, but two-thirds of those eligible to join the scheme choose not to and do something else with their benefits (such as running a second hand car), so those folk will hopefully now get a tiny increase.
The Telegraph is also reporting that face-to-face assessments for PIP are down from 80% of claimants pre pandemic to less than 2% now. That’s clearly wrong and leaves the system open to abuse, so I suspect that will be a major area that will be tightened up. Commentary is suggesting that things such as ADHD are in the crosshairs as being the sort of thing that shouldn’t qualify for PIP.