You can read a plain English version of this information here: Plain English – Changes to Welfare Benefits
Planned Changes to Welfare Benefits
The Government shared its proposed changes to welfare benefits this week in its Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper consultation, saying that it wants to help those who can work back into employment, while doing more to protect those with severe conditions who are unable to do so. You can read more about all of the planned changes here.
The consultation is open until 30th June 2025. Individuals can respond by filling in a form. Inclusion Gloucestershire will also be responding. If you would like us to include your views in our response, please email info@inclusion-glos.org by 20th June 2025.
Inclusion Gloucestershire’s Response to the Planned Changes
We are deeply concerned by the changes to PIP eligibility for disabled people. PIP is not a benefit that is linked to employment or income. It instead addresses the significant additional day to day costs that disabled people face, calculated by Scope to be £1,067 per month. We know that already, too many people who are entitled to PIP are not granted it in the first place, as evidenced by the shockingly high success rate at appeal (70% of PIP appeals are successful, whilst only 51% of initial PIP claims are). The process of applying for and being assessed for PIP is already extensive and gruelling, and more frequent reassessments will become an additional barrier for disabled people in getting the support that we deserve and are entitled to.
Disabled people have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID pandemic, cost of living crisis and health inequalities over the last 5 years. With inequalities widening, now is the time to be supporting disabled people, who are significantly more likely than non disabled people to be living in poverty, rather than further stripping our income.
Whilst we welcome incentives that support people in work, we must be clear that the greatest barriers most often stem from employers and systems that are inaccessible. There needs to be considerable investment and accountability for employers to become more accessible and fulfilling their legal duty to make reasonable adjustments, as opposed to financially penalising disabled people. We welcome the £1bn investment into employment support, recognising it is not the social security system that is holding disabled people back, but inaccessible workplaces and systemic discrimination.
The narrative that mental health conditions are overdiagnosed, at a time when millions of people are facing long waits for diagnosis, treatment and support, is deeply concerning. We know that the upcoming changes to PIP are causing significant distress and worry for many people who are disabled or live with mental illness.
What Do the Changes Mean for Me?
Disability Rights UK have summarised what the changes may mean for disabled people:
Universal Credit (UC):
The Health Element top-up will be denied to under-22s to prevent a direct path from education to benefits.
The top-up will also be cut for new claimants – from £97 to £50 per week by 2026/27 – a cut of more than £2,000 a year – and frozen for existing ones.
The top rate of Universal Credit for the most disabled will be cut (details to follow in the Chancellor’s 26 March Spring Statement), but the standard rate will rise above inflation for the first time, reaching a £775 annual increase by 2029-30
Personal Independence Payment (PIP):
The Green Paper proposes that PIP be more “focussed more on those with higher needs” but will remain non- means tested.
However, there will be a shift to more face to face assessment and only people who score a minimum of 4 points in at least one daily living activity will be eligible for the daily living component of PIP. This requirement would need to be met in addition to the existing PIP eligibility criteria.
This change will be introduced through primary legislation. It will apply to new claims and for existing people who claim, future eligibility will be decided at their next award review. This change means that people could lose entitlement to the daily living element of PIP and potentially other entitlements linked to this award.
The Green Paper is consulting on whether those who lose entitlement need any support and what this support could look like – for example transitional protection.
The Government will also launch a process to review the PIP assessment: “This is a major undertaking which will take time and require extensive engagement, so any changes to the PIP assessment would only be introduced following the reforms set out in this Green Paper.”
Work Capability Assessment (WCA):
The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) will be scrapped in 2028: “This will end the state categorising people into binary groups and labelling them as either ‘can or can’t work’.”
Instead, extra financial support for health conditions in UC will be assessed via a single assessment – the PIP assessment – and be based on the impact of disability on daily living, not on capacity to work.
The Government says that this change will be non-negotiable: “We will implement this change via primary legislation. Further details will be published in the forthcoming White Paper. We are not consulting on this measure.”
Under this new system, financial support from PIP (non-means tested) and the health element of UC (means-tested) will both be non-work related.
However, the Government will also be legislating to guarantee that work in and of itself will not lead to someone being called for a reassessment or award review.
I’m Concerned – What Should I Do?
- Some of these changes are still at a plan stage and MPs will vote on them in May.
- For people who currently receive PIP or DLA, there will be no changes before they are reassessed. Whilst the proposed changes may feel very worrying, it is hard to know exactly what they will mean for individuals just yet.
- If you do not currently receive PIP and are planning to apply, you should try to do this before the rules change.
- You can write to your MP about this. Inclusion London have a template letter you can use.
- Citizens Advice have helpful information about PIP assessments here.
- Disability Rights UK has a guide to applying for PIP and challenging decisions here.
- Become a member of Inclusion Gloucestershire to be part of a strong collective voice for disabled people, on this and other important issues.
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