Conservatives promise £10 saving for every £1 spent removing low-level mental health claims off sickness benefits bill

• The Conservative Party promise a rapid reassessment of all PIP claims awarded on the basis of mild mental health conditions or neurodiversity – saving £10 for every £1 spent reviewing a now-ineligible claim.
• Under Labour, the PIP caseload is on course to reach nearly 4.7 million by the end of this Parliament, with claims for mild mental health and neurodiversity forecast to hit nearly 720,000 people.
• Helen Whately MP, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, said: “For many people with mild conditions, a job, routine and the right support will do far more good than a lifetime on welfare. We cannot go on writing these people off – particularly thousands of young adults before their lives have even begun.”

Today [Thursday 28th May 2026], the Conservative Party have announced it will rapidly reassess all PIP claims for those claiming for mild mental health needs or neurodiversity.

The policy will be funded by a one-off reassessment programme estimated to cost £231 million, but £10 will be saved within 12 months for every £1 spent reassessing a now-ineligible claim.

PIP was not designed to support those managing mild anxiety or less severe neurodiversity, and the growth in awards on these grounds has driven a caseload expansion to extreme levels that is keeping people out of work.

Almost a million young people are now out of work, education or training, a generation written off before it has had the chance to begin. Rather than being helped back to their feet, a growing number are being signed off sick and parked on benefits. Low-level mental health is a leading cause, so we need to help more people into work and off welfare.

There are nearly 4 million PIP cases with entitlement, up 349,419 since Labour came to office and up over 63 per cent since January 2020. At the current rate of growth, the total caseload will reach nearly 4.7 million by the end of the Parliament, an increase of over 1.1 million on Labour's watch.

The expansion in mild mental health and neurodiversity claims is the sharpest driver of that growth:

• In January 2026, 21 per cent of new PIP awards were made on the basis of mild mental health or neurodiversity, covering conditions including anxiety disorders, mixed anxiety and depressive disorders, ADHD and ADD, and depressive disorder.
• The number of people with anxiety and depressive disorders or ADHD has increased by 256 per cent since 2019. 
• The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) has estimated that by the end of the Parliament 720,000 claimants will receive PIP for mild anxiety, depression and ADHD.
• We are defining mild mental health based on the work conducted by the CSJ, which defined mild mental health needs as cases of anxiety, depression and ADHD/ADD for which claimants received the lower rate of PIP.

The next Conservative Government would reassess all PIP claims awarded on these grounds. Accounting for the already due routine review, that requires capacity for approximately 601,000 additional reassessments at an estimated £384 per assessment, a total one-off cost of £231 million.

Unlike Labour, we believe that bold action must be taken to stem the growth of welfare spending, and the ever-widening definitions that are pulling more people into the system. As a cash benefit designed to compensate for the additional costs of living with a disability, PIP is not the appropriate way to support those struggling with their mental wellbeing or mild neurodiversity.

We must restore the principle that work should always pay and that welfare must be a bridge. Only the Conservatives will restore the incentive to work, build a stronger economy, and get Britain working again.

Helen Whately MP, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, said:

“For many people with mild conditions, a job, routine and the right support will do far more good than a lifetime on welfare. We cannot go on writing these people off – particularly thousands of young adults before their lives have even begun.

“Instead of helping them into work and independence, our welfare state is signing them off and parking them on benefits. People should be supported to realise what they can do, not defined by what they cannot.

“Labour's answer to every problem is to spend more of taxpayer's money and duck the difficult decisions. They are failing young people, failing taxpayers, and driving the welfare bill through the roof. Only Conservatives will turn this around and get Britain working again.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

The Conservative Party have announced we will reassess all PIP claims for those claiming for mild mental health needs or neurodiversity:

• There are nearly 4 million PIP cases with entitlement in January 2026. The number of PIP cases with entitlement hit 3,926,015 in January 2026, an increase of 349,419 since Labour came to office, and an increase of 1,523,274 since January 2020 – a rise of over 63 per cent(Department for Work and Pensions, Stat-Xplore, accessed on 23 May 2026,link).

• The number of PIP cases with entitlement is forecast to reach nearly 4.7 million by the end of the Parliament, an increase of over 1.1 million under Labour. There were 3,576,596 PIP cases with entitlement in June 2024, when Labour came to office. The number of PIP cases with entitlement had risen to 3,926,015 in January 2026, an increase of 349,419 since June 2024. At this pace by June 2029, there would be 4,680,025 PIP cases with entitlement, an increase of 1,103,429 since Labour came to office (Department for Work and Pensions, Stat-Xplore, accessed on 23 May 2026, link; Conservative Party analysis, 23 May 2026, available on request).

• 21 per cent of new PIP cases awarded were for mild mental health or neurodiversity in January 2026. In January 2026, 21% of all new PIP claims awarded with entitlement were for anxiety, depression or ADHD (Department for Work and Pensions, Stat-Xplore, accessed on 18 May 2026, link).

• The Centre for Social Justice has estimated that there will be 720,000 PIP cases for mild anxiety, depression and ADHD by the end of the Parliament. The CSJ estimates that there will be 1,044,000 PIP claimants in total for these conditions by 2029/30, with 69% of these estimated to be milder cases in receipt of the lower rate of Personal Independence Payment. (Centre for Social Justice, Change the Prescription: Update, accessed on 25 May 2026, link).

• Based on current rates of PIP review around 118,000 PIP cases with entitlement on the basis of mild mental health or neurodiversity would be reviewed in the first 12 months regardless, leaving the need to establish additional capacity for 601,000 additional PIP reviews.For 2025, 837,147 PIP reviews took place. This is equivalent to 21.3% of the total PIP caseload. If we assume the current rate of PIP reviews, 118,000 PIP cases with entitlement on the basis of mild mental health or neurodiversity would be reviewed in the first 12 months regardless and therefore do not need to be accounted for with additional capacity. For the remaining low-level mental health caseload, capacity would need to be created for 601,000 reassessments (Department for Work and Pensions, Stat-Xplore, accessed on 23 May 2026, link; Centre for Social Justice, Change the Prescription: Update, accessed on 25 May 2026, link).

• It would cost nearly £231 million to review the remaining mental health or neurodiversity PIP cases in the first 12 months.The cost per assessment under a ‘cost-plus' model was £306 per PIP assessment in 2021-22, adjusted for inflation this would now be estimated to cost of £384 per PIP assessment. The additional cost of reassessing the 601,000 mild mental health or neurodiversity remaining PIP claims would be £230,900,000 for the first 12 months (National Audit Office, Transforming health assessments for disability benefits, 23 June 2023, link).

• The lower rate for the daily living part of PIP is set to rise to £4,244.76 annually by June 2029. In May 2026, the lower rate for the daily living part of PIP amounts to £76.70 per week or £3,988.40. Applying the OBR's projected CPI figures, 2.3 per cent in 2026, 2.0 per cent in 2027, 2.0 per cent in 2028, across three April upratings produces a lower rate of £81.63 per week and £4,244.76 annually (gov.uk, accessed on 23 May 2026, link; OBR, Economic and Fiscal Outlook, 3 March 2026, link).

• Restricting eligibility for PIP for lower level mental health conditions and neurodiversity – defined as lower rate PIP cases for anxiety, depression and ADHD/ADD – will save over £10 within the first 12 months for every £1 spent on reassessment. With reassessment projected to cost £384 annual savings on reassessing such claims where eligibility is now denied should equate to £3,604. The cost of reassessment is deducted only in year one, with greater savings in subsequent years. (Conservative Party analysis, 23 May 2026, available on request).