What is really going on in politics? Get our daily email briefing straight to your inbox Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

The Government's own welfare watchdog has contradicted Theresa May over "nasty" plans to stop 165,000 people getting more disability benefit.

Experts questioned the Prime Minister's key vow that no one will lose cash in changes to Personal Independence Payment (PIP).

In a letter they also suggested the shake-up - due to take force on Thursday - should be delayed until after a consultation.

Scope chief executive Mark Atkinson said: “This damning letter should be alarming to the government.

“With two days to go we urge the UK Government to stop these changes.”

The law, condemned by charities and branded "nasty" by Labour, will reverse a tribunal that said PIP should rise for 164,000 people who can't go out alone due to "psychological distress".

The Prime Minister defended the law by telling MPs: "No one is going to see a reduction in their benefits from that previously awarded."

Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now

But now the Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) believes some people COULD be deprived of money they are entitled to under the old rules - or are already paid.

The watchdog, which was not consulted over the original decision, wrote to Disabilities Minister Penny Mordaunt warning the changes could prompt "unintended operational and legal consequences".

It added: "Officials advised the committee that existing claimants would not see a reduction in the amount of PIP awarded.

"However, the committee believes it is possible that some claimants may have been awarded [higher benefits] following earlier decisions of the Upper Tribunal on this issue."

The experts went on to warn the guidelines "may not simply return current decision-making practice to the status quo".

(Image: REX/Shutterstock)

"It is not clear how [assessors] will respond to changes in descriptors to exclude 'psychological distress' altogether where this is a symptom of a condition," they warned.

"It seemed to us that where multiple factors made it impossible for someone to follow a journey without help, it would be difficult in practice to strip out the element of psychological distress from the other factors.

"As a result it may well be that it is not consistently treated in these circumstances."

The watchdog said the government should consider testing the changes with health experts and reviewing the criteria for awarding the benefit.

(Image: Daily Mirror)

The watchdog also said the second part of the law, depriving higher PIP to 1,000 people who need help to take medication, should be delayed until there's been a new consultation.

The experts wrote: "As the number of cases and projected costs are so significantly lower, the case for invoking urgency procedures seems less obvious.

"We therefore recommend the department should both consult more widely with representative bodies and health care professionals; and improve the estimate of likely impact before the changes are introduced.”

Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Debbie Abrahams said: "The committee highlights the need for the government to consult more widely on these unfair changes and provide greater clarity - as Labour has been calling for all along.

"They also warn the changes may have an impact on existing awards, in direct contradiction to ministers who have repeatedly claimed no current recipient of PIP would lose out.

"The long list of recommendations by the committee, rushed to the government just two days before these regulations are due to come into force, clearly indicate that these regulations should be postponed and ultimately scrapped."

The watchdog accepted the government had never intended to raise PIP for 165,000 people - a move that would cost £3.7bn.

But it said there was clearly “confusion” over the rules, adding: “The department must be clearer in its articulation of policy intent in future."

Meanwhile there was an outcry as the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) told PIP assessors to block higher payments to people with mental illness.

Guidance on the new rules today was accused of betraying the Prime Minister's pledge to treat mental and physical conditions in the same way.

The DWP memo uses the example of a claimant named Sukhi who cannot travel alone without "panic attacks, sweating and breathlessness".

But it says if she's being considered in a higher "points" bracket, "any problems following the route due to psychological distress are not relevant."

Mind chief executive Paul Farmer said: "“The purpose of PIP is to cover the extra costs people incur because of a disability.

"Yet those making decisions... will now be explicitly told to disregard those barriers if they are a result of someone’s mental health problem.

“This move undermines the government’s commitment to look at disabled people as individuals, rather than labelling them by their condition.

"And it completely goes against the Government’s commitment to putting mental health on an equal footing with physical health."

Despite the watchdog's call for a delay, a DWP source said: "The timetable hasn't changed."

A DWP spokesman added: "PIP assessment criteria were consulted on extensively before they were introduced and through these regulations we are clarifying the original intention of the policy.

"We welcome the letter from the SSAC, who have agreed it was appropriate for us to take urgent action on PIP so that we could restore the original policy intention."