Labour’s promise to current PIP claimants that they would not be affected by the 4-point rule may be almost worthless, lasting only a few months, as the government has announced they will be rushing through a new PIP assessment system “as quickly as possible” after Autumn 2026.
The proposed PIP 4-point rule will take effect from November 2026, if the current bill goes through.
According to the Pathways to Work Green Paper (Annex A), the new single assessment for PIP was due to be implemented in 2028/29.
But the Timms Review of the PIP Assessment. Terms of Reference now states that “. . . we expect it to conclude by Autumn 2026”.
And Liz Kendall told parliament today (see parliament tv around 15.56) that “The review will conclude by Autumn 2026 and we will then implement any changes arising from that as quickly as possible”.
Depending on how extensive the changes are, this means that they could be in place in early 2027, only months after the 4-point rule has been introduced. As the document states, new rules could take the form “of changes to primary legislation, secondary legislation, as well as a range of potential non-legislative actions.” Some aspects of the points system, for example, could be changed very quickly using secondary legislation.
We have seen no evidence so far that current claimants will be exempt from changes brought in by the Timms review, exemption seems only to extend to some of the changes relating to Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill.
The new single assessment created by Timms will also be the gateway to an award of the universal credit health element, so it’s very hard to see how current claimants could be assessed using the current test once the single assessment is introduced.
If this proves not to be the case we will issue an update.
The terms of reference say that the new PIP assessment will be “coproduced with disabled people, along with the organisations that represent them, experts, MPs and other stakeholders, so a wide range of views and voices are heard.”
But it goes on to add that “The review will ultimately report to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for final decisions.” This raises the question of what degree of influence on the final outcome disabled people will have, after they have been “heard”.
The review will look at every aspect of the assessment, “including activities, descriptors and associated points – to consider whether these effectively capture the impact of long-term health conditions and disability in the modern world.”
It will also consider whether issues other than the assessment should be taken into account, including “evidence related to an individual’s personal circumstances and environment.” It’s hard to know what this could mean. It could, for example, be anything from whether you live alone to what sort of bathroom you have or how far the nearest bus stop is.
The review will also look at “What role the assessment could and should play in unlocking wider support to better achieve higher living standards and greater independence.” Again, it’s hard to know what this means, but it could suggest the PIP assessment being used to give access to therapy or treatment.
The review of PIP is clearly going to be very wide ranging but it is also going to be completed at speed. If the new PIP assessment includes the 4-point rule, or something equally draconian, current claimants may only have a few months exemption from it after November 2026. The bringing forward of the implementation of the new PIP assessment seems to be another underhand trick from a department that deals in little else.
You can download an explanatory letter from Stephen Timms to all MPs which includes the proposed amendment exempting current claimants from the 4-point rule from this page.
