A RAFT of benefits cuts has been unveiled by the Government amid a Labour revolt over the shake-up.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall outlined plans in the Commons to save about £5 billion a year in welfare payments.
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Ms Kendall told MPs the current system is failing millions, with one in ten working-age Brits now on sickness or disability benefits.
She slammed the spiralling costs, revealing that spending on disability benefits has soared by £20 billion since the pandemic.
She pledged to fix the “broken” system with a reform package, focusing on getting people back into work while protecting the most vulnerable.
Key changes include:
- Merging jobseekers’ allowance and employment support allowance, where people who have worked get more than those who have not
- Scrapping the Work Capability Assessment by 2028, with all health payments made via PIP in future
- Under-22s to be banned entirely from claiming Universal Credit incapacity benefits
- An above-inflation rise to the standard allowance of Universal Credit, but the highest incapacity payment cut
- A much higher bar for people to claim Personal Independence Payments to save £5billion a year
- A “right to try” scheme that allows jobless Brits to have a go at working without losing their benefits if they cannot manage
Under the new plans, Universal Credit payments will rise above inflation for the first time, with claimants set to receive an extra £775 a year by 2029.
But young Brits under 22 will no longer be able to claim extra Universal Credit support for health conditions or disabilities.
New claimants too sick to work will see their UC health top-up slashed from £97 to £50 a year from 2026.
The way sickness benefits are assessed will also change, with those who have severe, lifelong disabilities guaranteed they will never be reassessed.
But there will be a crackdown on eligibility, particularly for those claiming the main disability benefit, Personal Independence Payments (PIP).
The number of claimants is expected to double by 2030, with the biggest rise among young people and those with mental health conditions.
Ms Kendall revealed that from 2026, new claimants will need to score at least four points in one category to qualify, a move designed to curb the rapid rise in payouts.
[boxout headline=”Have the rebels won the day? ” featured-image=”28361432″]By RYAN SABEY, Deputy Political Editor
LABOUR’s major overhaul of the welfare system has been dogged by a brewing rebellion – but critics are asking whether the rebels have won the day.
Do these reforms fall far short of what is needed when only £5 billion is being saved?
The party’s disgruntled MPs have been dragged into Number 10 for private briefings to help smooth things over but the frontbench put on a show of unity.
Welfare Secretary Liz Kendall had the support of Sir Keir Starmer and his deputy Angela Rayner on the frontbench for her showpiece announcement today.
The plan outlined how £5 billion will be saved under the new plan – but it won’t affect those with the greatest need.
But the benefits bill is set to go up by eye-watering amounts and has already risen by £20 billion since the pandemic.
Sickness and disability benefits for those of working age are scheduled to hit £70 billion over the next five years.
Changes include the work capability assessment scrapped and the health top up in Universal Credit being delayed until someone is 22.
There will also be reforms to eligibility rules for Personal Independence Payments meaning even only the most disabled people will be able to claim.
For those who can get into work there will be £1 billion ploughed into employment support giving a “pathway to work”, Ms Kendall added.
But Tory frontbencher Helen Whately told Ms Kendall that the reforms “just doesn’t cut it” and how “she needed to be tougher”.
This benefits bill cull fits into the bigger picture of the Spring Statement to be delivered next week.
But have the savings allowed the Chancellor made it easier for her to balance the books and not be so savage on Whitehall spending cuts next week. Time will tell.
And in a major shake-up, the Cabinet Minister announced the controversial Work Capability Assessment will be scrapped from 2028, meaning financial support for those with health conditions will be determined solely by their PIP assessment.
She told the Commons: “Going through the WCA is complex, time-consuming and often stressful for claimants, especially if they also have to go through the PIP assessment.
“And more fundamentally it’s based on a binary can-can’t work divide when we know the truth is that many people’s physical and mental health conditions fluctuate.
“The consultation on the Conservatives’ discredited WCA proposals was ruled unlawful by the courts. So today I can announce we will not go ahead with their proposals.”
As revealed by The Sun on Sunday, Ms Kendall also announced the Government will legislate to introduce a “right to try” for disabled people.
It will allow them to have a go at working without losing their benefits if they cannot manage.
Alongside the changes, ministers will launch a full review of the PIP assessment process, led by the Minister for Social Security, to ensure it is fair and fit for purpose.
And Ms Kendall made it clear the Government would not proceed with Tory proposals for disability benefits to be handed out in vouchers rather than cash, nor would it introduce means testing for PIP.
The announcement comes after weeks of disquiet among Labour MPs over the changes.
The Government was forced into a U-turn on freezing PIP after the backlash over the weekend.
While immediately after the statement, the majority of MPs backed the reforms, Labour chair of the Work and Pensions Committee Debbie Abrahams warned the Government against “balancing the books on the backs of sick and disabled people”.
And she called on ministers to publish the impact assessment for the reforms, warning benefit cuts can ultimately lead to the deaths of vulnerable people.
Meanwhile, the Tories have branded the Government’s welfare reforms as “too little, too late”.
Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately told the Commons: “Where is the fit note reform, crucial to stem the flow of people onto benefits? Where is the action on people being signed off sick for the everyday ups and downs of life?
“Why is she only planning to save £5 billion when the bill is forecast to rise to over £100 billion?”
She added: “Fundamentally, this is too little, too late. The fact is £5 billion just doesn’t cut it. With a bill so big, going up so fast, she needed to be tougher. She should be saying no more hard working taxpayers funding the family next door not to work. No more free top of the range cars for people who don’t need them.”
The number of people on sickness or disability benefits in England and Wales has soared from 2.8 million to 4 million since 2019.
The spiralling welfare bill hit £48 billion last year and is on track to skyrocket to £67 billion by 2029-30 – more than the entire schools budget.
A new YouGov poll found 37 per cent of Britons – and most Tory and Reform UK voters – think it’s too easy to get a mental health diagnosis when nothing is actually wrong.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting on Sunday told the BBC there was an “overdiagnosis” of mental health conditions with “too many people being written off”.
The announcement comes a week ahead of the spring statement, as Chancellor Rachel Reeves struggles to balance the books in the face of weak economic growth and mounting debt interest costs.