Personal Independence Payments and Disability Living Allowances
Applying for personal independence payment/disability living allowance
As from April 2013 personal independence payments (PIP) have replaced disability living allowance (DLA) for new claimants aged 16 to 64. People can continue to receive the benefits after reaching age 65 if they continue to satisfy the entitlement conditions. DLA can still be claimed for children under 16.
From October 2013 onwards, PIPs were extended further when the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) started to re-assess existing DLA claimants.
Summary
The number of people claiming disability living allowance for persons aged 16 and over is falling whilst the number of people in receipt of a PIP continues to increase. Overall, the combined number of people within Great Britain (GB) claiming disability living allowances or personal independence payments has increased since mid-2014.
The combined DLA/PIP total in Great Britain of all entitled DLA cases (2,926,110) and PIP claims in payment (726,083) amounted to 3,652,193 people in February 2016 and are important benefits for a large number of people.
For the Lancashire-14 area, the combined number of all entitled DLA cases and PIP claims in payment totalled 104,879 persons in February 2016 and 78,231 persons in the Lancashire-12 area. Blackpool (14,594), Blackburn with Darwen (12,054), Preston (9,351), Lancaster (8,691) and Wyre (8,054) had the greatest combined totals of all entitled DLA cases and PIP claims in payment in the Lancashire-14 area in February 2016, whilst Ribble Valley (2,382) had the lowest.
All entitled DLA cases within the Lancashire-14 area totalled 84,540 in February 2016 and 63,220 cases in the Lancashire-12 area. Blackpool (11,660), Blackburn with Darwen (9,660), Preston (7,190) and Wyre (6,720) had the largest number of entitled DLA cases in the Lancashire-14 area in February 2016 and Ribble Valley (2,010) had the smallest number.
The PIP claims in payment numbered 20,339 in the Lancashire-14 area in February 2016 and 15,011 in the Lancashire-12 area. Blackpool (2,934), Blackburn with Darwen (2,394), Preston (2,161) and Lancaster (2,081) and had the largest number of PIP claims in payment in the Lancashire-14 area and Ribble Valley (372) had the smallest number.
Analysis by type of medical condition/main disabling condition
The DWP Stat-Xplore website gives access to the PIP claims in payment data split by 20 types of medical condition (including one for claimants without any diagnosis code). These are based on the world health organisation's international classification of diseases (ICD) summary codings (10th revision). In February 2016, of the 20,339 PIP claims in payment in the Lancashire 14-area, 32.0% (6,511) were allocated to the mental and behavioural disorders category, with a similar percentage , 31.8% (6,476) having diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissues and 9.7% (1,980) allocated to diseases of the nervous system. Blackpool with 36.7% of its PIP claims in payment total had the greatest percentage (and number) assigned to the mental and behavioural disorders category in the Lancashire-14 area, followed by Lancaster with 36.6%, and Preston with 36.4% of their respective totals.
The National On-line Manpower Information System (N.O.M.I.S.) website provides data on all entitled DLA cases broken down by main disabling condition (55 headings including terminally ill and unknown/transfer from attendance allowance). Where more than one disability is present, only the main disabling condition is recorded.
In February 2016, 19.1% of all entitled DLA cases in the Lancashire-14 area had arthritis as the main disabling condition, followed 12.8% with learning difficulties, 7.4% with psychosis, 5.4% with disease of the muscles, bones or joints, 4.8% with back pain (other/precise diagnosis not specified), 4.7% with psychoneurosis, 4.1% with heart disease, 4.0% with neurological diseases and 3.2% with cerebrovascular disease. These nine main disabling conditions accounted for just under two-thirds (65.5%) of all entitled DLA cases in the Lancashire-14 area in February 2016.
Yearly change in the combined number all entitled DLA cases and PIP claims in payment
The combined number of all entitled DLA cases and PIP claims in payment within Great Britain have risen by 3.6% (+128,498) between February 2015 and February 2016. Within the Lancashire-14 area, the combined number has increased by a marginally greater percentage 3.7% (+3,778) over the year. The Lancashire-12 area has seen the combined number of all entitled DLA cases and PIP claims in payment also rise by 3.7% (+2,803).
Blackpool (+581), Preston (+535), Blackburn with Darwen (+394), Burnley (+311), Pendle (293) and Wyre (+260) recorded the greatest yearly increases in the combined number of all entitled DLA cases and PIP claims in payment in the Lancashire-14 area, whilst Ribble Valley (+65) saw the smallest rise.
Preston (+6.1%), Pendle (+5.2%), Burnley (+4.7%), Blackpool (+4.1%) and Fylde (+3.9%) recorded the largest percentage increases in the combined number of all entitled DLA cases and PIP claims in payment between February 2015 and February 2016 in the Lancashire-14 area.
Yearly rise in the number of PIP claims in payment
The number of PIP claims in payment has almost doubled in Great Britain between February 2015 and February 2016, increasing by 98% (+359,388). Numbers have risen by the greater percentages of 126.5% in the Lancashire-14 area (+11,358) and by 129.2% in the Lancashire-12 area (+8,463), both more than doubling over the year.
Blackpool (+1,551), Blackburn with Darwen (+1,344), Preston (+1,255), Lancaster (+1,139) and Burnley (+811) have recorded the greatest yearly increases in PIP claims in payment in the Lancashire-14 area, with Ribble Valley (+215) registering the lowest rise.
All 14 of the local authorities in the Lancashire-14 area saw yearly percentage increases in the number of PIP claims in payment that were greater than the GB rise of 98.0%, ranging from 112.1% to 141.8%. Burnley (+141.8%), Preston (+138.5%), Ribble Valley (+136.9%) and West Lancashire (+135.3%) saw the greatest percentage increases between February 2015 and February 2016 in the Lancashire-14 area, whilst Blackpool recorded the smallest percentage rise (+112.1%).
Yearly decrease in the number of all entitled DLA cases
Between February 2015 and February 2016, the number of all entitled DLA cases in Great Britain has fallen by -7.3% (-230,890 cases). Numbers have fallen by a slightly greater percentage of -8.2% in both the Lancashire-14 area (-7,580 cases) and the Lancashire-12 area (-5,660 cases) over the year.
Blackpool (-970), Blackburn with Darwen (-950) and Lancaster (-930) have seen the largest reductions in numbers of DLA cases in the Lancashire-14 area between February 2015 and February 2016, whilst Ribble Valley (-150) recorded the smallest decrease.
Lancaster (-12.3%), Preston (-9.1%) and Blackburn with Darwen (-9.0%) recorded the largest percentage reductions in DLA cases over the year in the Lancashire-14 area, whilst Fylde (-6.2%) saw the lowest percentage fall.
The full report
Additional background information, related data tables, web links and analysis since recent peaks in the number of all entitled DLA cases can be be found in the full report, which can be downloaded via the link below in the further analysis box.
Further analysis
Page updated October 2016