Photo via Evening Standard

Number claiming main disability benefit hits new record high

Read the original at Evening Standard ↗
Cite

Jones, I. (2026, September 15). Number claiming main disability benefit hits new record high. Evening Standard. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/department-for-work-and-pensions-stephen-timms-stephen-people-england-b1297069.html

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Evening Standard · collected 2026-09-15 · by Ian Jones

Quick Summary

The number of people claiming Personal Independence Payment (Pip), the main disability benefit in the UK, reached a record high of 4.09 million as of July 31, 2026, according to data from the Department for Work and Pensions. This represents a 7% increase from the previous year, with the total number roughly doubling since January 2019. The rising costs associated with Pip have led to a government-commissioned review aimed at making the benefits system financially sustainable; however, specific recommendations remain pending in the final report of this review.
Written by AI on 2026-09-15, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

As of July 31, 2026, the number of people claiming Personal Independence Payments (PIP) reached a record high of 4.09 million in England and Wales, up from 3.83 million a year earlier, marking a 7% increase. This figure has roughly doubled since comparable data started being collected in January 2019, when there were about 2.05 million claimants.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) attributes the slowdown of recent increases to a rise of only 262,045 over the past year, compared to 400,000 in previous periods. Despite this relative deceleration, Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately argues that the sickness benefits system is broken and needs urgent fixing.

In response to criticism, DWP agreed that the current system is "no longer fit for purpose" but emphasized that Sir Stephen Timms's review aims to lay foundations for sustainable reform. The surge in PIP claims includes a significant increase of almost 109,000 new awards last year specifically for psychiatric conditions, representing nearly 40% of all new disability benefit claims.

The escalating costs associated with PIP have risen from approximately £16.3 billion in 2019-20 to around £27.3 billion by 2024-25 after adjusting for inflation. Of the total claimants, about 83% are of working age and 17% are state pension age, with those aged 50 and above making up more than half of all recipients.

Written for “Disability Benefit Claims Record High” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Disability Benefit Claims Record High
Politics · 3 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 33% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
BBC News
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 4 of 19 claims Outlet record 68/100
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans strongly right Hedges 8 of 30 claims Outlet record 68/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
21
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
33%
7 of 21 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
65/100
Evening Standard's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
3
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-15 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Evening Standard · 7934 article(s) · 65 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 65 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Ian Jones
17 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Welfare spending is forecast to rise steeply over the next few years, driven by the UK’s ageing population and an increase in the number of people receiving health and disability benefits.
🔮 The UK is on course for levels of tax, spending and debt not seen for many years, together with a sharp fall in migration, according to the latest economic forecasts.
🔮 To use the search feature, we need your consent to load Google Custom Search, which may use cookies or similar technologies.
2026-10-28 · mixed framing · Budget 2026: The key numbers in graphs and charts
🔮 In the week ending June 21, one day before Sir Keir Starmer announced his resignation as PM, Labour averaged 19% in nationwide polls of how people would vote at the next general election – the same figure as the Conservatives.
🔮 Read More “These figures show the government’s laudable aim of halving violence against women and girls (VAWG) within a decade is at risk, and may not be realised without bolder action and sustained investment across all parts of the criminal justice system.
🔮 The ONS will publish an assessment in December on whether a comparison can be made, in order to see how this measurement of abuse changes over time.
🔮 The increase in the overall rate of inflation would have been steeper had prices not eased in some areas – particularly for hotels and similar accommodation, where the rate more than halved from 2.7% in August to 1.2% in September.
🔮 Read More While 28-day ratings for The Celebrity Traitors will not be available for several weeks, they are likely to show the number of people who watched the launch went on climbing beyond the seven-day mark.
🔮 Storm Austen is forecast to bring gusts of 50-60mph to southern areas of the UK at the end of the week, with 70mph possible along exposed coasts.
🔮 Storm Austen is forecast to bring gusts of 50-60mph to southern areas of the UK at the end of the week, with 70mph possible along exposed coasts.
Also by Ian Jones
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 17 articles by Ian Jones →

Topics

DWP Government Labour Pip the Department for Work and Pensions

Subjects

Pip ORG · 6× DWP ORG · 3× Labour ORG · 2× Andy Burnham PERSON · 1× Government ORG · 1× Helen Whately PERSON · 1× Press Association ORG · 1× Stephen PERSON · 1× Timms ORG · 1× the Department for Work and Pensions ORG · 1×

Narrative

The spokesman added: “Our work on welfare across the board is about tackling the structural drivers and changing the nature of the support, and that we ultimately deliver a system that sets people up for success rather than pays for failure.” Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately said: “Our sickness benefits system is broken and Labour refuse to fix it. “It’s too quick to write people off and too slow to help them into work – and it’s costing us a fortune. “The Conservatives are doing a root and branch review of our sickness benefits system.
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-15
🔮 He said people would have to “wait and see” what his team’s final report says when asked whether it might include cuts to the numbers of people claiming the benefit.
2026-09-15 · Evening Standard
Number claiming main disability benefit hits new record high · mixed framing

Claims (21 extracted, 7 hedged)

Pip is the main benefit paid to someone who has a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability, and is intended to help with everyday tasks and extra living costs. asserted
who → pay → tasks
The figures come ahead of the publication later this autumn of a Government-commissioned review into the costs and operation of the disability benefits system. asserted
figures → come → system
A total of 4.09 million people were entitled to claim Pip as of July 31 2026, according to data published on Tuesday by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). uncertain
total → entitle → Work
The number of claimants has roughly doubled since comparable figures began in January 2019, when the total stood at 2.05 million. asserted
total → double → million
Last year saw ministers abandon plans to reform disability benefits, including for those with mental health conditions, in the face of backbench Labour opposition. asserted
ministers → see → opposition
Instead of immediate reform, the Timms review was put in place to gather views on Pip and how it works. asserted
it → put → Pip
Read More Speaking in July on the publication of the review’s interim report, Sir Stephen said the benefits system, designed in 2013, needs “fundamental change” and that it must be made “financially sustainable”. asserted
it → read → change
He said people would have to “wait and see” what his team’s final report says when asked whether it might include cuts to the numbers of people claiming the benefit. uncertain
it → say → benefit
He added the “vital support” provided by Pip to help cover the extra expense of being disabled could be under threat if the costs of the system keep rising. uncertain
costs → add → system
Spending on Pip stood at £16.3 billion in 2019-20, when adjusted for inflation to today’s prices, and had increased to £27.3 billion by 2024-25, DWP figures show. asserted
figures → stand → 2024
It is currently forecast to rise to £41.5 billion by 2030-31. asserted
It → forecast → 2030
The DWP has said the Timms review will ensure Pip is “fit and fair for the future”. asserted
Pip → say → future
Of the 4.09 million Pip claimants at the end of July, 1.60 million were listed as having psychiatric disorders, or 39% – the highest proportion for any type of disability. asserted
million → list → disability
Some 268,965 claimants were classed as having autistic spectrum disorders, more than three times the 79,395 in January 2019 when data began, according to Press Association analysis. uncertain
data → class → analysis
A further 442,666 claimants had mixed anxiety and depressive disorders, up from 171,833 in January 2019, while 106,087 had the hyperkinetic disorders ADHD or ADD, up from 23,741. asserted
106,087 → have → 23,741
The second most common type of disability among claimants was general musculoskeletal diseases, which applied to 764,305 people in July this year, or 19% of the total. asserted
which → apply → total
Just over a third (35.8%) of new Pip claims in July were granted, while 61.4% were disallowed and 2.8% were withdrawn. uncertain
% → grant → July
The grant rate for new claims has been on a downward trend for the past two years, having stood at 41.1% in July 2025 and 46.4% in July 2024. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said Andy Burnham believes “we have got to get serious as a country about welfare reform”. uncertain
we → stand → reform
But “that doesn’t mean crude cuts that simply push people into crisis and create bigger costs elsewhere”. asserted
that → mean → costs
The spokesman added: “Our work on welfare across the board is about tackling the structural drivers and changing the nature of the support, and that we ultimately deliver a system that sets people up for success rather than pays for failure.” Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately said: “Our sickness benefits system is broken and Labour refuse to fix it. “It’s too quick to write people off and too slow to help them into work – and it’s costing us a fortune. “The Conservatives are doing a root and branch review of our sickness benefits system. asserted
Conservatives → add → system
“We will stop claims for low-level mental health, rapidly re-assess hundreds of thousands of claims face-to-face the moment we enter government, and get Britain working again.” uncertain
Britain → stop → government
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support