Full PIP rollout delayed, pausing managed migration of DLA claimants until April 2028

The full rollout of Personal Independence Payment was delayed in November 2022, pausing the managed migration of legacy Disability Living Allowance claimants to PIP until April 2028, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility. The OBR puts the saving from that delay at £0.8 billion over five years¹.

PIP was introduced in 2013, replacing DLA for working-age claimants with different eligibility criteria¹. The OBR says the introduction of PIP for working-age claimants was intended to reduce spending by around 20 per cent relative to DLA, as people's eligibility was "more rigorously" reassessed. In fact, the OBR says, the introduction of PIP has led to higher spending, reflecting a greater volume of claims than expected, a higher proportion of them leading to an award, and recipients getting higher average awards on PIP than on DLA¹.

Average awards differ across the three benefits the OBR groups as disability spending. In 2023-24, PIP recipients received an average of £6,900 each, DLA claimants £5,520 each, and Attendance Allowance claimants £4,820 each¹.

Source: Office for Budget Responsibility¹

Disability benefits spending, covering DLA, PIP and Attendance Allowance, is forecast to be £39.1 billion in Great Britain in 2023-24, rising to £58.1 billion in 2028-29, the OBR says. That would represent around 4 per cent of total public spending and 2 per cent of GDP¹. Spending is set to rise by 49 per cent between 2023-24 and 2028-29, and as a share of GDP from 1.4 per cent to 1.8 per cent over the same period, as growth in disability benefits spending outpaces nominal GDP¹. Disability spending, excluding devolved spending, is forecast to account for 12.2 per cent of total welfare spending in 2023-24, up from 11.5 per cent in 2022-23¹.

Funding for DLA, PIP and Attendance Allowance has been devolved to the Scottish Government since April 2020¹. The OBR says devolution of disability benefits to Scotland in April 2020, alongside a number of other smaller benefits, accounted for around £3 billion in spending¹. Spending on these now-devolved benefits is no longer included in the welfare forecast in the OBR's Economic and fiscal outlook, but is included in the disability spending figures above for consistency with the long-run time series prior to devolution¹. The Scottish Government delivers disability benefits through Adult Disability Payment, Child Disability Payment and Pension Age Disability Payment.

Why it matters for households

People still on legacy DLA who expected to be reassessed for PIP under managed migration now face that move no earlier than April 2028, four years later than the timetable that applied before November 2022. Until then, their awards continue under DLA rules, and the OBR's figures show DLA awards averaged £5,520 in 2023-24 against £6,900 for PIP¹. The delay reduces forecast spending by £0.8 billion over five years¹, which is money the OBR had previously expected to be paid out.

The change does not affect new claims. PIP remains the benefit for working-age people making a new claim for support with care or mobility needs in Great Britain outside Scotland, and DLA and PIP both cover care and mobility needs, while Attendance Allowance covers care only¹. People who reach pension age while already receiving DLA or PIP can continue to receive it¹. The OBR has not reported how many claimants are affected by the pause, or which specific groups within the legacy DLA caseload will move first when migration resumes.

What happens next

The OBR's published position is that managed migration of legacy DLA claimants to PIP is paused until April 2028¹. Its spending forecasts run to 2028-29, when disability benefits spending is projected at £58.1 billion¹. No further timetable for the resumption of migration appears in the OBR's disability benefits material.