The interim Timms review, published on 9 July 2026, has confirmed what blind and partially sighted people and disability organisations have been saying for years: Personal Independence Payment is not working. Sir Stephen Timms, the disability minister leading the review, told the BBC the system is “not fit for purpose” — and the evidence gathered from almost 40,000 people and organisations backs that up, with more than 90% describing negative experiences of the claims process. At Blind Ambition, we welcome that verdict, and we want to be clear about what it means in practice.
What the Timms Review Actually Found
The BBC’s coverage of the interim report outlines a system that claimants describe as “dehumanising”, “soul destroying” and “degrading”. The assessment model — scoring individuals on a zero to twelve scale for tasks such as washing and preparing food — was designed in 2013 and has not kept pace with how disability and long-term health conditions are now understood.
As of April 2026 there were 4.01 million PIP claimants in England and Wales. That number has roughly doubled since 2019. Yet the process those claimants must navigate has barely changed, and for many people — including blind and partially sighted people — it remains a significant barrier to independence rather than a route towards it.
Why This Matters Beyond the Headlines
PIP is not a luxury. For blind and partially sighted people, it covers the additional costs that sighted people do not face: assistive technology, specialist transport, reader support, adaptations at home. These are not optional extras — they are the practical infrastructure that makes daily life, and employment, possible.
When the PIP system works as intended, it gives blind and partially sighted people a foundation from which to engage with the world: to work, to volunteer, to participate. When it fails — when the assessment process deters people from engaging, or when awards are cut at reassessment — that foundation collapses. The Timms review acknowledges this directly, noting that some claimants are afraid to participate in employment in case their activity is used as evidence that their functional ability has improved. That is a structural design flaw, not individual behaviour.
The Assessment Process Is the Problem
Autism awareness campaigner Cheryl Fyfield put it plainly to the BBC: “I’m autistic, I’m going to be autistic my whole life, yet every three years I have to go through the gruelling process to be reassessed.” The same logic applies to people with permanent, irreversible sight conditions. Reassessment of a fixed condition achieves nothing except distress and administrative cost.
The review team includes Sharon Brennan and Dr Clenton Farquharson, both of whom have lived experience of disability. Their message is unambiguous: Pip is not working. Doing so will require radical thinking and bold recommendations for reform. We agree — and we would add that those reforms must specifically address the needs of blind and partially sighted people, whose barriers are often invisible to assessors trained to look for physical impairment in a narrow sense.
Sir Stephen Timms and Access to Work
Blind Ambition has engaged directly with Sir Stephen Timms on a related and equally urgent issue: the failure of the Access to Work scheme to adequately support self-employed people and those with portfolio careers. Sir Stephen has been receptive and has listened carefully to those concerns. We look forward to continuing that dialogue, both as the PIP review progresses and in the context of the wider welfare and employment landscape.
The point we consistently make is this: PIP and Access to Work are not separate conversations. They are two parts of the same system that either enables or denies disabled people the opportunity to work, contribute and pay tax. If PIP is the foundation, Access to Work is the scaffolding. Both need to function.
PIP is the foundation rock. Without it, employment simply is not possible for many blind and partially sighted people — and no amount of employer good will or workplace adjustment can substitute for a system that gives people the financial independence to show up in the first place.
— Seema Flower, Founder and Managing Director, Blind Ambition
What Bold Reform Needs to Include
The final Timms report is due in autumn 2026. If it is to make a genuine difference for blind and partially sighted people, the recommendations need to address several specific issues:
- Lifetime awards for people with permanent, progressive or irreversible conditions — including many sight conditions. Mandatory reassessment of a condition that will not improve is pointless and harmful.
- Assessment criteria that reflect the real costs of sight loss, including assistive technology, specialist software, transport and reader support — not just physical task scoring.
- An end to the chilling effect on employment, where claimants fear that working will be used against them at reassessment. PIP should actively enable participation, not penalise it.
- Assessors with genuine training in visual impairment and neurodiversity, not generic health professional assessments that miss the specificity of lived experience.
Where Training and Behaviour Change Fit In
At Blind Ambition, we work with organisations to move beyond awareness and build embedded practice — the kind of cultural change that means blind and partially sighted people are genuinely included in workplaces, services and public life. But that work is only possible when the systemic infrastructure — PIP, Access to Work, workplace adjustments — is functioning.
We cannot train organisations to be inclusive employers while the welfare system is actively deterring the people they want to hire from engaging with work. Inclusion training and welfare reform are not competing priorities. They are complementary, and both are essential.
The Timms review has created a genuine opportunity. Bold, practical reform of PIP — combined with meaningful improvements to Access to Work for self-employed and portfolio workers — would unlock employment and participation for hundreds of thousands of disabled people, including blind and partially sighted people who are currently excluded not by capability, but by a system that has failed to keep up.
About Blind Ambition
Blind Ambition is a behaviour-change consultancy led by Seema Flower, who is registered blind. Our training goes beyond awareness to build the confidence, skills and embedded practices that create lasting change for blind and partially sighted people. To book a session: support@blindambition.co.uk | blindambition.co.uk
