Labour minister faces questions over sister’s move to cut PIP by billions, after ombudsman’s DWP death ruling

A Labour minister – the sister of chancellor Rachel Reeves – is facing difficult questions after an ombudsman’s ruling linked a constituent’s suicide with the flawed personal independence payment (PIP) system, just as her sister announced £4.5 billion cuts to PIP spending.

Ellie Reeves, MP for Lewisham West and East Dulwich and a Cabinet Office minister and chair of the Labour party, had referred her constituent’s case to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman in December 2021.

Late last month, the ombudsman produced its long-delayed final investigation report, and it concluded that the failings of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in dealing with the disabled woman’s PIP claim were a “significant contributing factor” in her decision to take her own life in March 2020.

But the ombudsman’s ruling was delivered to the woman’s widower just five days after Ellie Reeves’ sister Rachel, the chancellor, had announced huge cuts to PIP spending of £4.5 billion a year by 2029-30.

Only last month, a report by Disability News Service (DNS) of the death of another PIP claimant – also linked to the review process – led to warnings of the harm to come if the government goes ahead with its planned cuts.

Those cuts will affect hundreds of thousands of disabled people just like Tracie*, Ellie Reeves’ constituent, who died in March 2020, with DWP’s own figures suggesting 250,000 working-age people will be dragged into absolute poverty.

DWP eventually decided – after Tracie’s death – that she should have been entitled to the enhanced daily living rate of PIP.

DWP accepted that she needed help from another person to get in and out of the bath; couldn’t wash all her body herself; relied on incontinence pads; needed assistance to take her medication; had paranoid thoughts and felt anxious when others were around; rarely left the house; avoided mixing with other people; and experienced significant mental distress and suicidal thoughts.

But the ombudsman’s report shows that even someone with Tracie’s level of support needs would not qualify for the daily living part of PIP once the chancellor’s cuts to PIP are introduced from November 2026 onwards.

This is because to qualify for PIP daily living, a claimant will need at least four points in at least one “activity”, and the most Tracie qualified for in any single activity was three points.

Disability News Service contacted Ellie Reeves on Monday morning, and asked if she thought the PIP system was safe; if she had concerns about the harm that will be caused to other disabled people if the £4.5 billion cuts to PIP go ahead; and if she would now be taking action, such as writing to DWP with any concerns.

Reeves had not responded to the questions by noon today (Thursday), although it appears she may not yet have received a copy of the ombudsman’s report.

The ombudsman found that Tracie had had significant mental ill-health, including anxiety and depression, for many years but had been “doing extremely well mentally” before DWP’s decision to review her claim.

But in the run-up to her PIP review, she told mental health staff she was anxious about the process and the outcome, and her mental health then “began to deteriorate significantly” after DWP’s incorrect decision in July 2019 to remove her eligibility for the daily living element of PIP.

DWP confirmed its original decision on 12 September 2019 after Tracie requested a mandatory reconsideration.

A tribunal hearing was postponed in February 2020 because of her ill-health, and she took her own life the following month.

*Her widower, Mustapha, has asked DNS not to use their surnames, partly to protect their son

Picture: Rachel Reeves (left) and Ellie Reeves

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