The Department for Work and Pensions has confirmed plans to make health and disability benefits more sustainable following the Autumn Budget
What you need to know about changes to health and disability benefits
- The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has outlined proposals revealed by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in the Autumn Budget aimed at making health and disability benefits ‘more sustainable in the future’. In the most recent edition of the Touchbase newsletter, the DWP detailed all the major modifications affecting benefit recipients.
- This encompasses expanding the number of in-person assessments for both Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) to ‘ensure people are receiving the right support’. The UK Government stated it will also boost WCA reassessment capacity whilst reducing the frequency of PIP award reviews for recipients whose condition has remained unchanged.
- According to the Daily Record, most working-age and disability benefits will increase by 3.8 per cent from April, and changes to the Motability Scheme have likewise been unveiled. These involve scrapping VAT relief on advance payments – a one-off voluntary charge needed to lease pricier vehicles through the scheme – and implementing Insurance Premium Tax on leases.
- The DWP also recently confirmed its plans to transition claimants on income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) to Universal Credit by March next year. Sir Stephen Timms, the Minister for Social Security and Disability, revealed that as part of this migration process, ESA claimants will be moved to the Universal Credit Health Element.
- From April 2026, the DWP will abolish the two-child limit in Universal Credit, a move projected to lift approximately 450,000 children out of poverty in the final year of this Parliament, providing them with a better start in life. This figure is expected to rise to around 550,000 when combined with other measures announced this year, such as Free School Meals.
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