Summary
The UK government decided to change its plan on disability benefit cuts, which will now only affect new claimants from November 2026. This change reduces the expected savings from these reforms and raises questions about how the government will meet its budget goals.
Key Facts
- The original plan aimed to save £5 billion by cutting welfare costs.
- Changes will reduce savings from disability payment reforms by more than half.
- Only new claimants from November 2026 will be affected by the planned disability benefit changes.
- The change affects the Personal Independence Payment (PIP), sparing 370,000 existing claimants.
- PIP assessments now need a score of four points on one activity for support eligibility.
- This scoring method will be developed with input from disability charities.
- Revisions to Universal Credit health changes mean benefit increases for 2.25 million people.
- New plans could cost £2.5 to £3 billion on top of the winter fuel payment U-turn.
