Recommendation 10

In the end, the Government made the right decision by removing Clause 5 from the Universal Credit Bill, as a result of which there will now be no change to PIP eligibility until after the completion of the PIP review. The decision, and the way it was made, of course gives rise to many other questions. We had concerns about the policy development process, which was particularly troubling given the Government’s commitment to improving its approach to safeguarding. We do not understand why a comprehensive and independent impact analysis was not undertaken before the Bill was introduced. There are clearly lessons to be learned. We would also welcome Ministers’ consideration of how a realigned, disability friendly labour market and an NHS with additional capacity might impact on the rate of disability and incapacity benefit off-flows, and similarly how longer-term improvements in population health might impact on the rate of on-flows. (Conclusion, Paragraph 103)