By James Rodger

Copyright birminghammail

People who have mental health conditions could be handed Personal Independence Payments from the Department for Work and Pensions as it stands – but The Conservative Party has promised to cut £23bn from the welfare budget. As part of £47bn savings in overall government spending, the Tories – who will contest the next general election against Reform UK and Labour – could target mental health conditions. Shadow Tories chancellor Mel Stride set out proposals during his Conservative Party conference speech. He warned the country cannot “keep spending money we simply do not have”. And the shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately told the conference she had a “common-sense plan for welfare savings”. READ MORE State pensioners born after 1951 face ‘losing payment’ over £23,000 rule She said she wanted to “fix a sick-note system, bring back face-to-face assessments and end sickness benefits for low-level mental health problems.” The prime minister, Labour Party Leader Sir Keir Starmer, previously told Radio 4’s Today programme earlier this month that there was “a moral case” for it, adding: “If you are on benefits in your 20s, it is going to be extremely difficult to get off benefits for the rest of your life.” But mental health charity Mind says reducing support for those dealing with mental health issues “would make it harder for them to recover and put more pressure on other services.” PIP is a four-weekly payment to help you manage if you’ve a long-term illness, disability or mental health condition. PIP is worth over £9,500 per year, tax-free, and you can get it whatever your income. How much you get is based on how your condition impacts your life. The benefit is made up of two components. PIP is currently paid to a string of mental disorders including: As of April 2025, around 1.4 million people in England and Wales receive PIP for mental health issues. With PIP, there is the ‘daily living component’ – this is for the extra daily help you need for things such as preparing food, washing, getting dressed or communicating with other people. There is also the ‘mobility component’ – this is for the extra help you need getting around. This can include moving, planning a journey or following a route. For each component there are two rates: ‘higher’ and ‘lower’, depending on how severe your condition is. Under proposals outlined overnight by the Tories, a further £8bn annually would be saved by cutting about 130,000 civil service jobs, and £7bn by slashing overseas aid to 0.1 per cent of GDP. Starmer’s Labour government has already cut it from 0.5 per cent to 0.3 per cent.