Taxpayers shell out £300m for ADHD handouts – a 41,000% rise in a decade
TAXPAYERS are shelling out an astonishing £292 million a year in disability benefits to people claiming to have ADHD, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Our investigation shows that spending on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder claims has shot up from just £700,000 per year in 2013 – a rise of more than 41,000 per cent.
The payments are included in a £5.1 billion Personal Independence Payments (PIP) handout for mental disorders, compared with £34.4 million in 2013, when the scheme was introduced. The Mail on Sunday
has found that an industry has sprung up to help claimants secure up to almost £800 a month. Recipients do not always need a medical diagnosis, nor are they means tested – so they are free to earn other income or have hefty savings.
‘Disability influencers’ on YouTube and TikTok coach people on how to beat ‘trick questions’ on PIP application forms, helping score as many points as possible to receive the maximum allowance.
One self-proclaimed ‘PIP consultant’ charges £650 to fill in a claim form and boasts: ‘I’m really good at PIP – I have a high success rate. I’ve only lost one claim in six years.’
Joanna Marchong of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: ‘The surge from millions to billions in certain disability benefits is making a mockery of the system, which is designed to help people in need.
‘What will horrify Brits is that there is an industry of unscrupulous con artists masquerading as consultants, helping scroungers to swindle taxpayers.’
A Department for Work and
Pensions (DWP) spokesman said: ‘We conduct regular reviews to ensure payments are going to the right people.’
In Scotland PIP became Adult Disability Payment (ADP) in 2022. It is worth the same amount but is administered by Social Security Scotland rather than the DWP.
The Scottish Government agency does not break down its expenditure figures by specific condition, so it is not known how high the cost is for ADHD alone. However, between March 2022 and January 2024, the total value of ADP was £733.5 million.