A Government report says that an online self-service benefits system could make claims much more likely to be successful.
Ministers have made plans to get more people who are applying for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) to do so online instead of by phone or mail.
The Sunday Telegraph was the first to report on the trial results for the digital self-serve platform. They showed that PIP registrations went up by 22% in the first year. Also, data from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) showed that the number of successful claims granted PIP rose by seven percent during the first 19 weeks of trials.
A DWP study found that claimants thought the online process was much easier because they had to “be in the right headspace or work up the confidence to start the application” when they called in, and they thought postal submissions were “daunting.” You can get the latest news stories sent straight to your phone by joining the North Wales Live WhatsApp community group.
However, the evaluation recognized that there is now “strong evidence that Digital Self-Serve would lead to a significant increase in the number of PIP applications,” even as ministers try to cut down on rising benefits spending.
PIP is one of the main benefits that disabled people in the UK can get. The Liverpool Echo says that the payment is meant to help people with long-term illnesses or disabilities by helping with their daily costs.
Last year, ministers had to drop plans to change the PIP assessment criteria because Labour backbenchers were worried that it might have unfairly forced some disabled people to find work.
Helen Whately, the shadow work and pensions secretary, said that all PIP assessments “should be face-to-face.”
The senior Conservative went on to say, “The last thing we need is the DWP to push for online assessments, which would make it even easier to get benefits.
“People with serious disabilities should be able to get sickness benefits, but they shouldn’t just be a way to get more welfare instead of working. “The Government has no control over the welfare system.” Keir Starmer has given in to his left-wing backbenchers by dropping reforms and raising the two-child limit.
