Registration now open for workshops to guide the recommendations made by Timms review in personal independence payments.
People with disabilities and/or a long-term health condition are being invited to take part in workshops that will shape the recommendations made by the Timms review into personal independence payments (PIP). Carers, family members of disabled people and support workers are also invited to apply.
The aim of PIP has always been to help with the extra cost of living that results from disability or long-term physical or mental health condition, and difficulties with mobility or doing certain everyday tasks. However, the government has acknowledged complaints that the assessment and decision-making process can be ‘stressful’ and ‘dehumanising.’ In some cases, instead of supporting participation and independence as intended, it can have the opposite effect and create barriers.
A review into PIP co-chaired by Sir Stephen Timms, Minister for Social Security and Disability, received more than 38,000 responses to its call for evidence It also ran workshops and engagement activities with disabled people, related organisations and experts. The Timms review concluded in its interim report that PIP is not fit for purpose. Its final report, due to be published this autumn, will make formal recommendations on what should be done.
The steering group of the Timms review is keen to ensure disabled people and those with long-term health conditions play a part in refining those recommendations. In September and October, a total of15 workshops will be held across the UK, in person and online, during September and October, to discuss, test and refine the recommendations. No previous experience of such reviews is required.
Applications are now open and close at 5pm on Friday, August 21. Selected participants will be informed by September 4.
Dr Clenton Farquharson CBE, co-chair of the Timms review steering group, says: ‘ Disabled people and people with long term health conditions know better than anyone how PIP works in real life where it helps, where it creates barriers, and where it needs to change. That experience has to be part of shaping what comes next.
‘I would encourage anyone with experience of applying for or receiving PIP to register their interest in taking part. The purpose of these workshops is not simply to hear people’s experiences, but to test the Review’s emerging recommendations against real lives and understand what could make them fairer, clearer and work better in practice. Most importantly, I am committed to showing how what people tell us influences the recommendations we ultimately make.’
Photo: Towfiqu barbhuiya / Unsplash
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