Disability Benefit Cuts - Take action before July 9th.
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As you know, there's an ammendment tabled for 9th to remove the insistence on NHS diagnoses. News from "The Guardian" adds weight to that ammendment:
Charity prepares legal challenge after NHS board pauses ADHD referrals for over-25sADHD UK says over-25s wanting assessment with Coventry and Warwickshire board have no choice but to pay privately
Rachel HallNotifications offMon 7 Jul 2025 11.43 BST
A charity supporting people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is preparing a legal challenge against a regional NHS board that has temporarily stopped accepting referrals for adults over 25.
Coventry and Warwickshire integrated care board said any new referrals for people over 25 would be paused from 21 May to reduce waiting lists for children.
Several other ICBs, including Herefordshire and Worcestershire and some in London, have previously paused ADHD referrals but have accredited other providers for GPs to send referrals to under “right to choose” legislation.
ADHD UK understands that this is the first time that local people aged over 25 will be able to obtain an assessment only by paying privately, which one former patient did at a cost of £1,500.
The charity is beginning the process to mount a legal challenge under the right to choose legislation, which allows patients to choose their provider for certain healthcare services when referred by their GP.
Henry Shelford, the chief executive of ADHD UK, said: “It’s ridiculous. We know one in 10 men and boys and one in four women and girls with ADHD will at some point try to take their own life, so we know there’s a danger.
“We also know that ADHD medication can have a significant positive effect and you can’t get it unless you have a diagnosis. It’s part of the discrimination and a lack of taking ADHD seriously that we face every day.”
Shelford added that it could set a worrying precedent for cash-strapped trusts cutting services elsewhere in the NHS, including other ADHD services.
Dr Imogen Staveley, the chief medical officer at NHS Coventry and Warwickshire ICB, said the “emergency policy” had been introduced to address “the unacceptable ADHD assessment waiting times, currently affecting over 7,500 children”, some of whom were waiting up to 10 years for assessment in the local area.
She hoped the pause would “support the development of a sustainable, all-age ADHD pathway for the future”.
ADHD is defined by the World Health Organization as a persistent pattern of inattention or hyperactivity-impulsivity that negatively impacts academic, occupational or social functioning.
Anita Thapar, a psychiatrist who chairs the ADHD taskforce set up by NHS England, said services were struggling because they were “playing catch-up” with the changing understanding of ADHD.
“The research on ADHD has really matured in the last 20 years but the services have not been able to catch up with what we now know about ADHD,” she added.
“There were concerns initially: is ADHD being overdiagnosed? The research, evidence and data used in our taskforce shows that in England – though this is not true of all countries – ADHD is under-recognised, under-diagnosed and under-treated.”
She said that ideally ADHD would be diagnosed in childhood, but in reality many people were missed or misdiagnosed, especially females. There are negative mental and physical health outcomes – including obesity and cardiovascular disease – as well as societal ones, including an increased risk of ending up in the criminal justice system, in poverty and not doing well in school.
Part of the problem is that services were designed when ADHD was considered rare. It is now known to affect 3-5% of the population, and therefore psychiatrists needed additional training to diagnose it, Thapar said.
Sarah Walter, the integrated care system network director at the NHS Confederation, said integrated care boards were making tough choices about “the services they commission given the very tight financial envelope that they need to work within”.
She added: “It is clear that current waiting lists for ADHD are too long, and commissioners and providers are having to take a pragmatic approach to respond to the needs identified. In some instances, this may mean prioritising certain groups, be it by age or length of wait.”
David Hare, the chief executive of the Independent Healthcare Providers Network (IHPN), said there was ample “local capacity available in the independent sector which can be used to cut the backlog of care and improve access to diagnosis and treatment for all those in need, regardless of age”.
Before the Coventry and Warwickshire board’s pause, Andy Morrison, from Coventry, paid £1,500 to get a private assessment when he was told he would have to wait up to three years on the NHS. He was developing an alcohol abuse problem and had been unable to hold a job for longer than six months. He is now on medication, which he has found life-changing.
“I’ve never looked back and getting the diagnosis gives clarity and context – you almost grieve for the life you could have had if you had been diagnosed in the first place,” he said.
A spokesperson for NHS England said: “ADHD services are under significant pressure from a huge rise in people coming forward, and we know that is resulting in unacceptably long waits for assessment and treatment – particularly for children and young people.
“While local NHS teams are responsible for taking action to tackle excessive waits, the NHS has set up an ADHD taskforce to examine ways services for patients can be improved.”
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I agree they should get rid of the NHS rule considering the state of it and how hard it is to get help.
My fear is that they might remove the rule for ADHD only if they even consider it, and leave it in place for everything else.
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That would be outright discrimination. The NHS idea is itself rickety in law.
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WITHDRAW THE BILL
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I could see them trying to get around it by saying 'because the waiting list is above X amount of years' when the reality is the NHS is a mess all round.
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The user and all related content has been deleted.1
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Unless they decide to abolish reassessment of the current claimants in the LCWRA/Support Group, as the Tories proposed last year, reassessments will restart sooner or later.
The Tories' proposal in November 2023 (as part of their welfare reforms) to abolish reassessment of current claimants in the LCWRA/Support group was wholly predicated on them getting through their WCA reforms, if you remember. Once they lost the election last Summer, Labour took up the Tories' appeal against Ellen Clifford's judicial review of the consultation on the WCA reform, which the High Court ruled unlawful in January this year. So Labour abandoned the Tories' WCA reform. Therefore, there is zero chance of Labour now proposing not to reassess current LCWRA/Support group claimants before they plan to abolish the WCA entirely in 2028/29.
I do not think the Timms review will revive the 4-point PIP proposal to restrict eligibility for PIP. It has proved too damaging for Labour politically. They will never get it past the PLP in future, not after what happened last week. I also think Timms won't dare risk as onerous cuts to PIP eligibility as they hoped they could get away with early in their Parliamentary term. By the time he comes back with his proposals in the Autumn of 2026, the time it will take to get through Parliament will get them too dangerously close to the next general election cycle. I think the 4-point PIP proposal is dead for the rest of this Parliament. And a lot of political pundits think the same.
I just don't see the rationale now for postponing WCA reassessments until after April 2026 for the low hanging fruit in LCWRA/Support Group the green paper cited they will initially target - short awards and substantial risk. Their policy document cited a saving of £300 million from off-rolling or downgrading those awards. The only barrier the DWP face currently is the lack of capacity with assessment providers. I would keep an eye on any plans for recruitment of more assessors by the providers in the near term.
The Benefits & Work website in a recent newsletter has published that reassessments have started again. See link:Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill in brief
The DWP has begun WCA reviews again. So existing LCWRA claimants may have their award reviewed before April 2026.
Their information is usually solid, isn't it?
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The user and all related content has been deleted.1
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The rationale behind restarting the reassessments from April 2026 is because the bill in question will only come into force April 2026 and not before.
Ah, that makes sense.
But what do you make of Benefits & Work's newsletter recently saying WCA reassessments have started? They wouldn't be saying that if they didn't have inside info, would they?
I am in the initially targeted cohort (substantial risk), as you know - not sure I should rely on believing that they won't come for me until after April next year, much as the idea gives me comfort. And they can start their targeted reassessments at any time. They don't need to rely on this Bill passing through Parliament for that. They already have the power to restart reassessments of short awards and substantial risk without it.2 -
The user and all related content has been deleted.2
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Well, from what you and B & W website newsletters say, then WCA reassessments have always been ongoing in however a limited way. Even more reason not to believe they will leave me alone until after April next year. My award is in a targeted category, after all.
I was so relieved to think I would be left alone for another year when they published their plans in March... but after what happened last week in Parliament, now I'm not so sure.
Anyway, thanks for your insight @Passerby0 -
The user and all related content has been deleted.3
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I was in 'support' group ESA many years ago then automatically went on to LCWRA.I believe I am classed as 'substantial risk' .
I am unsure also ..
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It is all so confusing and so stressful.
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I am no legal expert but back in 2017 when I was called to shift from DLA to PIP, the government (Tory) had just tried to tighten PIP criteria to exclude people whose disabilities were mental health related (in essence, remove psychological distress as a factor). For this reason my entire (autism, not mental health) related claim was rewritten and rejected as anxiety, for which I didn't claim and didn't have support.
This policy change was legally challenged and was ruled to be against equalities legislation. Removing eligibility for conditions based on political opinion and not medical fact would probably be treading this same ground, and there is already a precedent for ruling it out.A person with no medical or other training is not in a position to determine that ADHD is not a significantly disabling condition, for example (nor is it necessarily a mh condition, either).
I may be wrong, but my theory is that the govt went after the points, not the conditions, because (Starmer being a lawyer), they knew that if they started singling out conditions by name for exclusion, they would face the same costly legal rigmarole somewhere down the line.
As for the British Citizen thing, that's general Tory policy at the moment, Badenoch announced that they want disability benefits to be paid to people with British citizenship or EU residents who have settled status here. Something about 1 in 4 households claiming PIP having a non British citizen. As usual the Tories have gone for the divisive approach. We have no stats on whether non British citizens are even claiming anything, nor am I sure if it matters…it's just to appeal to the right.
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Hello @Catherine21
The only way to know if you have been awarded under the 'substantial risk' provisions is to ask for a copy of the WCA assessor's report.
If you are in ESA Support group, the form you need to ask for is the ESA85 if you underwent a face to face or telephone work capability assessment. But, if you didn't have one of those assessments and it was awarded without seeing you/talking to you, then it means it was a paper-based assessor's report. In that case the form you need to ask for is the ESA85A. If you are in the ESA Support group, then phone the ESA helpline on 0800 169 0310 to ask for it to be posted to you. You are entitled to see it.
If you have UC LCWRA, the form you need to ask for is the UC85 (if you had a face to face or phone work capability assessment). If it was a paper-based WCA, the form you ask for is the UC85A. If you are UC LCWRA, you won't have a work coach, so put a message in your journal under 'payments' and you can leave a message asking for a copy of your report with your case manager to be uploaded for you to have.
Hope that helps. But, that is the only way of finding out - getting a copy of the health professional's report. Good luck.1 -
Sorry @Catherine21
I don't know very much about the SCC (severe conditions criteria?)… I know that in 2017, they brought it in for people who have medically evidenced illness/disability that is life-long and progressive where their functional ability will only worsen and so they will never be fit for work, so that they should be spared from WCA reassessment. I also have read that the severe conditions criteria is due to be revised again and made more harsh to qualify for under the new bill, which is being debated on 9th July at the 3rd reading.
I have never heard of anyone who has been in ESA Support group or UC LCWRA with an award granted under substantial risk who also qualifies under the severe conditions criteria. But, maybe it is possible to be granted it on a case by case basis depending on the life-long severity and functional limitations of your specific illness/disability. I really have no idea.
The only way for you to find out if your award is 'substantial risk' is to contact them and get a copy of your report, as I've said. Maybe a friend or family member can help you with that if you can't face contacting them on your own. There really is no other way of finding out, I'm afraid.1 -
@Catherine21 I don't believe the Speaker will accept this as a Money Bill. It does not fit the criteria that have been outlined here several times. It would set a difficult parliamentary precedent were it to be accepted as a Money Bill.
I'd be surprised were the Tory ammendment re MH/ ASD, etc were selected for debate. If it were, it would be voted down.
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Hi Danny, was just backtracking a little as I missed a few messages.
I noticed you said you hadn't been assessed for 6 years. It was at least 12 years for me ! could be longer, I went from incapacity to ESA like you, though I was on the one before incapacity as well but cant remember the name now lol. I brought this up more than once on the Benefits and Work forum, I cannot remember ever receiving any decision or anything else. I told B&W that I had still not been assessed all these years later, I was told I will have been, but maybe without the forms or anything else. Not a clue how assessment timings work at all, how they choose who to assess and at what time baffles me. I think in the last 20 odd plus years could be longer I have had one out of the blue phone call from DWP from a man who asked a couple of questions and that was it and that was years and years ago. I did not receive any paperwork at all after that call though B&W said I will have done, I didn't, I am meticulous about keeping all DWP etc paperwork of any kind in a box file I have had for years, every letter is ''filed'' (sp - head not functioning lol ) in its envelope and kept securely. So nope, I like you have no idea when assessments are flagged. I am at some peace now in that I recently became a pensioner lol, lets see how long that respite lasts 🤣
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