Rishi Sunak planning to introduce major overhauls to benefit system this week with changes that could see disabled people receive vouchers rather than monthly payments

Rishi Sunak will this week unveil a major overhaul to the benefits system which could see disabled people receive vouchers instead of monthly payments.

The Prime Minister is expected to announce his plans for a crackdown on benefits today ahead of a predicted bruising week for the Tories in the local elections on Thursday.

The changes being mooted to the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) could see people given one-off grants for home adaptations or expensive equipment. Vouchers could also be given to be spent on improvements. 

Other ideas would see people being offered treatment rather than financial support and needing receipts for aides or appliances in order to claim money back from the state. 

A government source said the reforms were not about 'making the safety net less generous, but PIP is a blunt and increasingly unsustainable benefit'.   

Mr Sunak gave a major speech earlier this month in which he pledged to crack down on the country's 'sick note culture', insisting normal 'life worries' are not a reason to be signed off.

The plans will be presented to the House of Commons tomorrow by the Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride. The proposals in a green paper will then go out for consultation. 

Within them it will suggest those who have long-term serious conditions should not be reassessed for PIP. 

A government source told The Telegraph: 'By the end of the decade the bill will have more than doubled since Covid, to over £30 billion. So we need a proper conversation about whether the current approach is best supporting the rising caseload, particularly those with mental health conditions.

'We owe it to those who need the help the most to ensure the system is sustainable and working for them, including by providing extra support for those with the most severe conditions.'

Official figures have showed disability benefits for anxiety and depression have surged up to 200-fold over the last decade.

Almost £1.6billion is dished out per year on PIP for the two mental health conditions, according to data from Department for Work and Pensions.

For comparison, the figure stood at £7.5million when it was introduced in 2013.

Official forecasts also show spending on ill health through the same scheme is set to spiral to £33billion by 2029 — compared to just under £19bn last year.

Experts warned that a greater awareness and 'changing attitudes' to mental health conditions could be behind the rise.

Under the PIP scheme, recipients in need of help due to illness, disability or mental health problem can get up to £172 per week.

The system was introduced in April 2013 and in the first year, £7.5million was dished out to people for anxiety or depressive disorders.

It is intended to help people living with long-term illness, disability or mental health conditions to live a more independent life, by covering extra costs that their ailment incurs.

Mr Sunak stressed earlier this month he did not want to make the system less generous for those who genuinely needed support, but would not 'let down' Brits by refusing to tackle the issue for fear of 'causing offence'.

'The situation as it is is economically unsustainable,' he said. 'We can't afford such a spiralling increase in the welfare bill.'

The intervention came as the IFS think-tank estimated that 4.2million working age people are currently claiming at least one health-related benefit. That is equivalent to one in 10 of the population in that age band, and up from 3.2million in 2019.

Strikingly, that level is predicted to spike even further, potentially hitting 5.8million by 2028-29 if the post-Covid trends continue.   

Separate official figures released this week revealed that the number of people considered 'economically inactive' after being placed on long term sickness benefits has jumped by a third since the start of the pandemic and now stands at a staggering 2.8million.

PIP is aimed at helping with extra living costs if someone has a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability, and has difficulty doing certain everyday tasks or getting around because of that.

But Mr Sunak said that since 2019, the number of people claiming PIP citing anxiety or depression as their main condition has doubled, and it is 'not clear they have the same degree of increased living costs as those with physical conditions'.

He described the system as being 'undermined' as people are 'asked to make subjective and unverifiable claims about their capability'.

Scope's director of strategy, James Taylor, has previously accused the Government of proposing to 'slash disabled people's income by hitting PIP' in a cost-of-living crisis, branding the suggestion 'horrific'.