A Government-commissioned review of Personal Independence Payment (PIP), led by welfare minister Sir Stephen Timms, has concluded that the disability benefit claims process should be made as "easy as possible" and less stressful for applicants. The draft recommendations, published on Thursday, matter because they come amid rapidly rising costs of the benefit and set the direction for a major overhaul of how sickness and disability support is assessed in England.

The review proposes redesigning the claim form, adopting a "more respectful tone" at the Department for Work and Pensions, offering advocacy support to claimants who struggle to describe their condition, and showing more flexibility for people with fluctuating symptoms. PIP spending is forecast to double within a decade to over £40billion a year by 2030, with almost four million people now claiming and more than 1,000 new claims approved daily, partly driven by rising mental health issues. Conservative and Reform UK politicians criticised the findings as failing to address the growing benefits bill, while a separate YouGov poll found 61% of the public support reinstating the two-child benefit cap that Labour scrapped this year.