Disability, Devolution and Difference – A Safety Nets briefing

In spring 2025, the UK government proposed major cuts to health and disability social security spending totalling £5 billion by the end of 2029/30. These proposed changes included stricter eligibility requirements for Personal Independence Payment (PIP), which the government has since rowed back on, pending a review of the PIP assessment by Sir Stephen Timms. Much of the national debate that followed overlooked the role of devolution in shaping how disability support is currently experienced across the UK. Social Security Scotland (SSS), for example, administers Adult Disability Payment (ADP), while England, Wales, and Northern Ireland continue to use PIP, and these differences are underpinned by divergent social policy perspectives.
This briefing shares early insights from the Safety Nets research programme on people’s experiences of disability support across the four UK nations. The findings are based upon a workshop conducted with people in receipt of disability benefits in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Because the workshop involved only a small number of participants (N=12), the findings provide indicative insights only and are a springboard for further research and discussion.
Participants described similar – and similarly negative – experiences of the PIP application process, and, across the four countries, participants felt there was a common failure by government to recognise the invisible costs of disability. However, there were clear differences between the experiences of participants living in Scotland and those in the rest of the UK. Participants in receipt of Scotland’s ADP reported more positive experiences, characterised by dignity and attentiveness to individual needs.
These early findings from a small cohort provide a starting point for future discussion on reform of disability benefits, particularly in relation to what devolved systems such as Scotland’s are perceived to be getting right and what the UK as a whole can learn from the approach taken by SSS.

Disability, Devolution and Difference
Exploring the impact and extent of devolved differences in support

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Disability, Devolution and Difference Exploring the impact and extent of devolved differences in support

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Disability, Devolution and Difference
Exploring the impact and extent of devolved differences in support