Government plans could cut benefits for depression and anxiety

[EpilepsyAction1]

Government plans could cut benefits for depression and anxiety.

The government’s plans to stop sickness benefits for some people with mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression, are “insulting”, Epilepsy Action has said.

The government’s “bold new vision for welfare” could leave people with “milder mental health conditions” without personal independence payments (PIP), Work and Pensions secretary Mel Stride has suggested.

People with epilepsy may be impacted, as they are three times more likely to have depression than the general population.

Stride is planning to change the eligibility and assessment criteria for PIP and introduce a “move away from a fixed-cash benefits system”.

He said people could be offered talking therapy, respite, social care or one-off grants instead of benefit payments.

Daniel Jennings, Epilepsy Action’s senior policy and campaigns manager, said: “The proposed changes to PIP payments for those with supposed “milder mental health issues” are very concerning.

“There is no such thing as a mild mental health issue and to suggest as such is massively insulting. We know that many people with epilepsy experience depression and anxiety, which can have a severe impact on their daily lives, on top of the impact their epilepsy has.”

Earlier this month, prime minister Rishi Sunak announced he was launching consultation into PIP and that payments to people with some mental health conditions would be replaced with treatment or access to services.

Jennings added: “We will be responding to the consultation to express our opposition to these proposals when it opens and would urge other people to do likewise.”