End reviews of PIP and ESA awards for people with lifelong illnesses
This petition gathered 29,373 signatures between 28 July 2021 and 28 January 2022, according to the Parliament petitions site. The Government responded on 10 September 2021. MPs debated it in Westminster Hall on 4 September 2023.
The petition
The petition's creator is not named in the Petitions site's published record. Quoted in full from the UK Parliament petitions site.
End reviews of PIP and ESA awards for people with lifelong illnesses
People with a lifelong illness should not be subject to regular reviews for eligibility for the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). People suffering lifelong conditions should not have to prove they are still ill every couple of years.
I and others like myself have been awarded PIP and ESA for lifelong illnesses yet have to be subjected to reviews for both benefits even though these conditions are for life!
These reviews mean that people like myself are subject to repeated interviews with people who often have no idea about the conditions we suffer from, and in many case the stress of these reviews causes a flare up and worsens the condition.
These reviews are unnecessary and need to stop!
The Government's response
The Government published its response on 10 September 2021; the petitions site lists the Department for Work and Pensions as responsible. Its summary:
We understand there are people with severe and lifelong health conditions which will not improve and want to test a simplified process which doesn’t require them to undertake a health assessment.
The opening 379 words of the 824-word response:
The Department for Work and Pensions uses functional assessments to help determine entitlement for a number of benefits, including Personal Independence Payments (PIP), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and, for those claiming because they have a disability or health condition that impacts on their capability for work, Universal Credit (UC).
There is strong evidence that work is good for physical and mental well-being and that being out of work can contribute to poorer health. We want to ensure people who can work are supported to do so. The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) was designed to ensure that people receive appropriate financial support and appropriate work-related support. Reassessments are important to take into account changes in how someone’s health condition or disability affects their capability for work over time.
We use a separate assessment to determine entitlement for PIP. Unlike in UC and ESA, PIP aims to help people with the extra costs of a disability or long-term health condition. PIP is paid regardless of income or savings. Once someone has been awarded PIP, which can be paid at one of eight rates, that award will be reviewed. Reviews of PIP are a key part of the benefit to ensure that awards remain correct where needs may change (including where needs increase and the award may need to increase) and that we maintain contact with the individual, both features that were missing from PIP’s predecessor Disability Living Allowance. The length of an award is based on an individual’s circumstances and can vary from nine months to an on-going award, with a light touch review after 10 years.
Over recent years, we introduced a range of improvements to avoid unnecessary reassessments. In WCA, for example, we have worked with healthcare professionals and other stakeholders to develop a set of criteria to waive the need to re-assess people with the most severe health conditions or disabilities (unless a change of circumstances is reported).
Those placed in the ESA Support Group or found to have Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) in UC, who have the most severe and lifelong health conditions or disabilities, whose level of function would always mean that they would have LCWRA, and be unlikely ever to be able to move into work, are not routinely reassessed.
Read the full response on the petitions site.
Where the signatures came from
Signatures came from 650 constituencies on the boundaries used until the 2024 general election. The largest number, 211, came from Isle of Wight.
29,262 of the signatures were from the UK and 111 from elsewhere, by the location signers gave.
| Constituency | Signatures |
|---|---|
| Isle of Wight | 211 |
| Swansea East | 128 |
| Swansea West | 104 |
| North Cornwall | 98 |
| Gower | 96 |
| Aberavon | 94 |
| Brighton, Kemptown | 91 |
| North West Cambridgeshire | 91 |
| St Helens South and Whiston | 90 |
| Bognor Regis and Littlehampton | 89 |
| Region | Signatures |
|---|---|
| South East | 3,823 |
| North West | 3,225 |
| South West | 2,864 |
| East of England | 2,754 |
| East Midlands | 2,427 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 2,402 |
| Scotland | 2,334 |
| London | 2,323 |
| West Midlands | 2,256 |
| Wales | 2,103 |
| North East | 1,384 |
| Northern Ireland | 667 |
Debate in Parliament
MPs debated the petition in Westminster Hall on 4 September 2023. Read the debate in Hansard. House of Commons Library debate pack.
Source and receipt
- https://petition.parliament.uk/archived/petitions/593296.jsonUK Parliament Petitions API · read 2026-10-15 · SHA-256
5a4be9db40aa6508… - The petition on petition.parliament.uk
The petition's words are its creator's and the response is the Government's; this site quotes both and gives no view on either. Signature counts can still change while a petition is open. To report an error, send a correction request.