Tag: benefits cuts

Universal Credit cuts voted through

DISABLED PEOPLE WILL LOSE OUT ON THOUSANDS OF POUNDS

The Labour government claims nearly 4 million households will see an annual income boost estimated to be worth £725 cash as the controversial Bill to overhaul the welfare system completed the next stage of its passage through Parliament last night.

  • Bill to introduce biggest permanent boost to out-of-work support since 1980 progresses through Parliament.
  • Legislation will remove perverse disincentives to work that exist in the welfare system while protecting 200,000 of those with the most severe, lifelong conditions who are not expected to ever be able to work.
  • Alongside the Bill, disabled people and those with health conditions will have legal protections to try work without fear of reassessment.
  • Reforms to the welfare system aimed at improving living standards across the country and breaking down barriers to opportunity as part of the Government’s Plan for Change.

KEIR Starmer’s Labour government says nearly 4 million households will see an annual income boost estimated to be worth £725 cash as a Bill to overhaul the welfare system completes the next stage of its passage through Parliament.

For the first time ever, the Universal Credit standard allowance will permanently rise above inflation, amounting to £725 by 2029/30 in cash terms for a single person aged 25 or over.

This is the highest permanent real terms increase to the main rate of out-of-work support since 1980, according to the IFS.

Reforms set out in the Universal Credit Bill will look to rebalance the core payment and health top up in Universal Credit (UC). This will address the fundamental imbalance in the system which creates perverse incentives that drive people into dependency.

The Bill, which will legislate to make these changes, today successfully cleared the House of Commons. It will now be introduced into the House of Lords to continue its passage through Parliament towards Royal Assent.

Alongside these changes, we have published significant new measures, giving people receiving health and disability benefits the right to try work without fear of reassessment.

The new Right to Try Guarantee enshrines this in law for the first time and includes disabled people and people with health conditions – such as those recovering from illness – who want to return to work now their health has improved.

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said: Our reforms are built on the principle of fairness, fixing a system that for too long has left people trapped in a cycle of dependence.

“We are giving extra support to millions of households across the country, while offering disabled people the chance to work without fear of the repercussions if things don’t work out.

“These reforms will change the lives of people across the country, so they have a real chance for a better future.”

The Labour fovernment says as part of their ‘commitment to protect the most vulnerable and severely disabled’, 200,000 in the Severe Conditions Criteria group – individuals with the most severe, lifelong conditions who are unlikely to recover – will not be called for a UC reassessment.

All existing recipients of the UC health element and new customers with 12 months or less to live or who meet the Severe Conditions Criteria will also see their standard allowance combined with their UC health element rise at least in line with inflation every year from 2026/27 to 2029/30. This means they can live with dignity and security, knowing the reforms to the welfare system mean it will always be there to support them.

Starmer’s government says they are also ‘putting disabled people at the heart of a ministerial review of the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment’ led by Disability Minister Stephen Timms and co-produced with disabled people, along with the organisations that represent them, experts, MPs and other stakeholders – making sure it is fair and fit for the future. However this review was only introduced following a substantial revolt by the party’s own backbench MPs on the introduction of the controversial legislation.

The government says they will be engaging widely over the summer to design the process for the review and consider how it can best be co-produced to ensure that expertise from a range of different perspectives is drawn upon.

They say the reforms are ‘underpinned by a major investment in employment support for sick and disabled people’ – worth £3.8 billion over the Parliament. Funding will be brought forward for tailored employment, health and skills support to help disabled people and those with health conditions get into work as part of our Pathways to Work guarantee.

This ‘investment’ will accelerate the pace of new investments in employment support programmes, building on and learning from successes such as the Connect to Work programme, which are already rolling out to provide disabled people and people with health conditions with one-to-one support at the point when they feel ready to work.

The Labour government says the welfare reforms build on the Get Britain Working White Paper that will overhaul Jobcentres, empower Mayors and local leaders to tackle inactivity, and deliver a Youth Guarantee so every young person is either earning or learning, as part of the Government’s ambition to deliver an 80% employment rate.

CRITICS – INCLUDING 47 LABOUR MPs – SEE THE LEGISLATION AS AN ATTACK ON THE POOREST PEOPLE IN OUR COUNTRY, HOWEVER …

Parkisnon’s UK SAID: “The government’s decision to cut Universal Credit costs is appalling. We believe that, despite the government’s claims, savings are being made by effectively making people with Parkinson’s ineligible for the higher rate health element.

Helen Barnard, director of policy, research and impact at Trussell, said: “We are deeply concerned about the cuts being made to Universal Credit health payments for disabled and ill people applying in the future.

“The scale of the remaining cuts in this ill-conceived bill will still be devastating and risks pushing more disabled people to food banks. 

“Life costs more if you’re disabled. Cutting this part of our social security system will mean 9 in 10 disabled people newly claiming the Universal Credit health element will miss out on around £3,000 worth of support on average by 2029/30. It makes no sense to rip support away from people in the future, just because their health has worsened, they become disabled, or their income drops after an arbitrary date. 

“By contrast, the uplift to the basic rate of Universal Credit that this bill will bring in is a very welcome and long overdue step towards ensuring our social security system covers the cost of essentials like food, bills and toiletries. Further clarity on how the government will work with disabled people, MPs and charities is also important. 

“We applaud disabled people, MPs and community organisations like food banks for persistently raising their voices and ensuring many disabled people have been protected from deep financial losses during the progress of this bill.

“The UK government must now build on this to deliver a more compassionate, effective and fair social security system that, at the very least, protects disabled people from hunger and hardship.” 

Work is underway to move the benefit awards of over 66,000 people to Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance.

People getting DLA from the DWP don’t need to do anything as the transfer will happen automatically.

More at https://bit.ly/ScottishAdultDLA

Comedian Nish Kumar joins more than 700 anti-poverty campaigners at Westminster demanding urgent action on rising tide of hunger and hardship

Against a backdrop of unprecedented cuts to social security for disabled people and on the day of the first reading of the welfare reform bill, representatives of community food organisations from across UK called for urgent steps towards an Essentials Guarantee to ensure Universal Credit is fit for purpose: 

For the first time ever, more than 700 representatives – including people experiencing severe hardship, volunteers at local food banks and representatives from community food organisations – stood shoulder-to-shoulder to create an historic lobby at Westminster on Wednesday (18th June) as part of the Guarantee our Essentials campaign.

Among the prominent figures at the event was comedian, TV personality and Trussell supporter Nish Kumar who joined calls for a stronger social security system that ensures everyone can afford the essentials, like food. 

Right now, more than 9.3 million people – including more than three million children – are facing hunger and hardship across the UK. In response, leading anti-poverty organisations including Trussell, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Independent Food Aid Network, Feeding Britain, Salvation Army and Your Local Pantry united in London to urge the UK government to take immediate action.  

People from across the four nations of the UK came to meet their constituent MP, speak out against the levels of severe hardship they are seeing in their local area, and ask policymakers to play their part in delivering urgent and meaningful change to our social security system.  

Representatives are calling for steps towards an Essentials Guarantee which would ensure Universal Credit is fit for purpose, helping to prevent people from having to use a food bank.

This means moving closer to a guarantee that the basic rate of Universal Credit provides enough to ensure people are at least able to afford the essentials we all need to get by, such as food and bills.

Alongside the lobby, Trussell organised a panel discussion with people experiencing severe hardship and a session hosted by Nish Kumar. 

The event took place on the same day the UK government published its draft welfare reform bill, and millions of the UK public nervously wait to hear how MPs will vote on £7 billion worth of cruel cuts to disabled people’s social security payments. These cuts will push 440,000 more people in disabled households into severe hardship, according to Trussell research.  

Shockingly, three in four people who come to food banks in the Trussell community are disabled or live with someone who is, as disability payments for too many people already fall short of covering the essentials, like food and heating.

Too many people are falling behind on bills, are becoming trapped in debt, and having to live in cold, damp homes. 

Trussell says this is not right, and the majority of the UK public agrees that social security payments for disabled people should be enough to cover at least the essentials. 

Representatives at the lobby told more than 150 MPs these levels of severe hardship can and must change for the better. They urged them to play their part and join Trussell, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), and more than 100 charities, in calling on the UK government to create an Essentials Guarantee. 

Steps towards achieving this include implementing a ‘full boost’ to Universal Credit, raising it by £5 a week after inflation from April 2026, not April 2029, as planned. 

They also called for their MP to back bringing in an initial low-level protected minimum floor in Universal Credit to limit all deductions from social security payments including the benefit cap, to make the government’s new Fair Repayment Rate truly effective.  

Campaigners reiterated that whatever happens, we need Universal Credit to be there for all of us when we need it and urged that their MPs cannot ignore the shockingly high levels of severe hardship in our communities.  Crucially, they highlighted the opportunity to create some positive changes, such as the boost, to help people as much as possible.  

PRESS IMAGES © Jess Hurd

Emma Revie, chief executive at Trussell, said: “With more than 700 of us travelling to Westminster, we couldn’t send a more powerful and clear message to our MPs and to the UK government.

“We will not stand by while 9.3 million of us are facing hunger and hardship. People who have experienced severe hardship, people who work in food banks and from community organisations, as well as charity partners, have gathered from all over the UK, to call for a stronger social security system.  

“The moment couldn’t be more crucial. Our event comes as we wait to hear whether MPs are going to vote to cut disabled people’s social security by £7 billion. 

“It’s time for the UK government to act , and take steps towards creating an Essentials Guarantee to ensure Universal Credit is fit for purpose and protects everyone that needs it.”  

Nish Kumar, comedian and Trussell supporter, said: “It’s been incredible to join so many people coming together with one voice to speak out against the rising tide of hunger and hardship in the UK.

“This collective action shows that change is possible when we stand together and call for a future where everyone can afford life’s essentials. 

 “I’ve seen the incredible work that food banks do to support people facing hardship, but charities cannot and should not bear the brunt of an inadequate social security system that should be there to support us. We live in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, yet millions of people are struggling to make ends meet.  

“We know the most important solution to ending the need for food banks – it’s about ensuring people have enough money in their pockets to put food on the table. This is a political choice, and our government has the power to end it.” 

PRESS IMAGES © Jess Hurd

Jacob Forman, director at Epping Forest Foodbank, said: “On the same day the UK government formally introduced a new bill in Parliament proposing significant cuts to support for disabled people, I was proud to stand alongside food banks in the Trussell community to demand better. Better for everyone who has been forced to use a food bank, and better for everyone who may be forced to in the future.

We know the UK public supports a future without food banks, and it’s one of the promises that this government was elected on.  

“We have not asked our MPs for the impossible. Instead, we have shared our vast experiences to highlight the actions that can genuinely change the life circumstances of the people we see every day for the better.

“As politicians sit on their benches, I hope our words resonate with them and encourage them push for a stronger social security system that ensures everyone can afford the essentials.” 

Trussell Trust lobby, Westminster, London. PRESS IMAGES © Jess Hurd

Jen Coleman, from Black Country Foodbank, a member of the Independent Food Aid Network, said: “Across the whole of the UK, a vast network of charitable food aid providers are united in their calls for the same fundamental changes to our broken social security system.

“Above all, everyone should be able to afford the essentials and a labyrinth of food banks and food pantries shouldn’t be needed to pick up the pieces.” 

On 3rd July, MPs will vote on a Bill that could push 440,000 disabled people into severe hardship. There’s still time to contact your MP and urge them to vote against these devastating cuts. 

Welfare bill ‘will protect the most vulnerable and help households with income boost’

TRUSSELL: The new Universal Credit and PIP bill will push nearly HALF A MILLION more people into severe hardship and towards the doors of food banks

Additional protections for millions of vulnerable people on benefits are set to be written into law, under new measures being introduced to Parliament yesterday [18 June 2025].

  • New welfare legislation to ensure there are robust protections in place to support the most vulnerable and severely disabled.
  • Nearly 4 million households to benefit from uprating of Universal Credit standard rate, the largest, permanent real-terms increase to basic out of work support since 1980, according to the IFS.
  • More than 200,000 people with most severe, lifelong conditions to be protected from future reassessment for Universal Credit entitlement.
  • 13-week period of financial support for those affected by PIP changes as part of upcoming welfare reforms.
  • Comes alongside £1 billion employment support package that will unlock opportunity and grow the economy as part of the Plan for Change.

The Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill will provide 13-weeks of additional financial security to existing claimants affected by changes to the PIP daily living component, including those who their lose eligibility to Carers Allowance and the carer’s element of Universal Credit, according to the UK government – but charity Trussell says the bill will push nearly HALF A MILLION more people into severe hardship.

The 13-week additional protection will give people who will be affected by the changes time to adapt, access new, tailored employment support, and plan for their future once they are reassessed and their entitlement ends.

This transitional cover is one of the most generous ever and more than three times the length of protection provided for the transition from DLA to PIP.

The Labour government says it inherited a broken social security system, with costs spiralling at an unsustainable rate and millions of people trapped out of work. The case for change is stark:

  • Since the pandemic, the number of PIP awards has more than doubled – up from 13,000 a month to 34,000 a month. That is around 1,000 people signing on to PIP every day – that is roughly the size of Leicester signing up every year.
  • The surge has been largely by driven by a substantial increase in the number of people who report anxiety and depression as their main condition. Before the pandemic (in 2019), 2,500 people a month were awarded PIP for these conditions, this has more than tripled to 8,200 a month in 2023.
  • Almost 1 million young people – 1 in 8 – are not in education, employment or training.
  • 1-in-10 people of working age are now claiming a sickness or disability benefit.
  • Without reform, the number of working age people on disability benefits is set to more than double this decade to 4.3 million.
  • Spending on working age disability and incapacity benefits is up £20 billion since the pandemic and is set to increase by almost that much again by the end of this Parliament, to a staggering £70 billion a year.

Labour says that’s why, through the introduction of this Bill; the government is fixing our broken social security system so it supports those who can work to do so while protecting those who cannot – putting welfare spending on a more sustainable path to unlock growth as part of our Plan for Change.

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said: “Our social security system is at a crossroads. Unless we reform it, more people will be denied opportunities, and it may not be there for those who need it.

“This legislation represents a new social contract and marks the moment we take the road of compassion, opportunity and dignity.

“This will give people peace of mind, while also fixing our broken social security system so it supports those who can work to do so while protecting those who cannot – putting welfare spending on a more sustainable path to unlock growth as part of our Plan for Change.”

As part of our (i.e. the Westminster govertnment’s) commitment to protect the most vulnerable and severely disabled, peace of mind will also be given to 200,000 individuals in the Severe Conditions Criteria group – individuals with the most severe and permanently disabling conditions who will never be able to work – as they will not be called for reassessed for Universal Credit (UC) under new legislation.

Those protected from reassessment will also be paid the higher rate of UC health top up of £97 per week, so they can live with dignity and security, knowing the reforms to the welfare system mean it will always be there to support them.

In the coming weeks, legislation will also be drafted for a Right to Try Guarantee. This will ensure that trying work will not, in and of itself, lead to a reassessment or award review, breaking down barriers to employment.

Reforms being delivered by the legislation introduced today go hand in hand with a £1 billion employment support package to support more people with health conditions back into work, unlocking opportunity and growing the economy as part of the Plan for Change.

Funding will offer personalised employment and health support for individuals on out of work benefits, with 500,000 people having already been supported into employment. This is a quadrupling the level of annual spend on supporting sick and disabled people into work, from the £275m in 2024/25 we inherited, to over £1bn in 2029/30.

Nearly 4 million households will also receive an income boost with the main rate of Universal Credit set to increase above inflation every year for the next four years – estimated to be worth £725 by 2029/30 for a single household 25 or over. This is around £250 higher than an inflation only increases.

The Bill will also rebalance Universal Credit rates by reducing the health element for new UC claims to £50 from April 2026, fixing a system which encourages sickness by paying health element recipients more than double the standard amount.

To open up opportunities to work, everyone affected by changes to the UC health element from April 2026 will be offered support from a dedicated Pathways to Work adviser, with 1,000 advisers in place across Britain.

All of those affected by reforms will be actively contacted and given the offer of a conversation about their support needs, goals and aspirations; offered one-to-one follow-on support, and given help to access additional work, health and skills support that can meet their needs.

The reforms build on the Get Britain Working White Paper that will overhaul Jobcentres, empower Mayors and local leaders to tackle inactivity, and deliver a Youth Guarantee so every young person is either earning or learning, as part of the Government’s ambition to deliver an 80% employment rate.

Additional information

  • The Bill will introduce a new additional eligibility requirement for the daily living component of PIP so that a minimum of 4 points must be scored on at least one daily living activity to be eligible for the daily living component. It will also rebalance Universal Credit.
  • The Work and Pensions Secretary gave a speech at the IPPR on setting out the case for reforming the welfare system: Welfare reform: Speech to the IPPR by Work and Pensions Secretary – GOV.UK
  • Based on current forecasts, the rebalancing mean single households 25 or over, will see their standard allowance rise to around £106pw by the end of this parliament.
  • Current UC health top up is more than double the UC standard allowance for a single claimant.

There are 4 criteria for the healthcare professional to consider, all of which must apply for the claimant to meet the SCC, namely whether:

  • The individual’s level of function will always meet LCWRA
  • The individual’s condition will last for the rest of their life
  • There is no realistic prospect of recovery of function, and
  • The condition has been diagnosed by an appropriately qualified healthcare professional in the course of the provision of NHS services.

Scotland’s Social Justice Secretary: “Scrap damaging welfare reforms”

Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville has urged the UK Government to protect and enhance social security rather than making cuts.

The UK Government’s Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill has been published today, which includes the details of the first set of changes to ill-health and disability benefits. The Scottish Government will not mirror the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) changes in Adult Disability Payment in Scotland.

Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “The UK Government’s proposed reforms will be hugely damaging to those who rely on social security support, particularly during the ongoing cost of living crisis.

“These plans have yet to be passed at Westminster, so there is still time for the UK Government to step back from this damaging policy and I strongly urge them to scrap their harmful proposals.

“The UK Government’s own analysis highlights how the proposals will push 250,000 more people across the UK into poverty – including 50,000 children. With around half of all children in poverty in Scotland living in a household with a disabled person, the changes threaten to undermine the progress that we are making to reduce child poverty, and the work of the UK Government’s Child Poverty Taskforce.

“That the UK Government is prioritising deep cuts to disabled people’s support is made even worse by their failure to abolish the two-child limit, which is estimated to have pushed more than 35,000 children into poverty since July last year.

“The reforms do not reflect the Scottish Government’s values. We will not let disabled people down or cast them aside as the UK Government has done. We will not cut Scotland’s Adult Disability Payment.

“The UK Government should follow our lead and protect the social security safety system, rather than dismantling it. If they do not, then disabled people can draw no other conclusion than the UK Government remain content to balance the books on the backs of the most vulnerable.”

Responding to the publication of the bill, Helen Barnard, Director of policy at Trussell said: “The UK government’s new Universal Credit and PIP bill, put before Parliament today, does almost nothing to ease the concerns of hundreds of the thousands of disabled people who fear that their social security support will be ripped from them.

“In fact, this bill will push nearly half a million more people into severe hardship and towards the doors of food banks.

“It is easy to see why so many MPs have voiced concerns about the damage this bill will do. What has been published today offers little for MPs deeply concerned about the impact of these cuts on their constituents.

“The last minute details on protections offer something for a small proportion of people, but even they will still see a real-terms cut. The reality of this bill is still record cuts in support for disabled people, and the biggest cuts to social security since 2015.

“It is shocking that MPs are being asked to vote through cuts without a full assessment of their impact, and especially worrying as we know that already three in four people referred to the Trussell community are disabled or live with someone who is.

“We know hunger and hardship already pushes up public service costs alone by £13.7 billion. MPs are being asked to vote for a Bill that will drive up hunger and hardship and undermine the UK government’s promises on economic growth and ending the need for emergency food.”

Today, the UK government published a bill, aimed at reforming the benefits system. Unfortunately, as it stands, this will be a disaster for disabled people – and is likely to worsen people’s living conditions, undermine their mental health, and increase the risk of suicide, says Mental Health Foundation.

These plans will not help reduce the number of disabled people out of work. Instead, they are counterproductive and cruel.

A more effective alternative for the government would be to move forward with its progressive policies that encourage people to return to work, such as the Right to Try scheme and improvements to support in job centres, and look at how well those work, without cutting support for disabled people.

Poverty Alliance: Spending review misses need for fundamental change

Commenting on the Chancellor’s Spending Review, Poverty Alliance chief executive Peter Kelly said: “People in the UK are desperate for a government that delivers a just and compassionate country – and that’s one of the reasons so many voted for change at the last General Election. They will feel that today’s Spending Review falls short.

“There was a positive story to tell on capital spending and increased resources for health and housing are welcome and will have benefits for the Scottish Government too.

“But that story masks cuts to day-to-day spending in unprotected areas. We all rely on public services, but when libraries, buses and social care system see cuts, it will be people living on low incomes that feel that impact the hardest because they are more likely to use and rely upon those services.

“After 14 years of austerity, any spending cuts will drive living standards down further. We’ve been down that road before and it’s not what people voted for.

“This review also includes £5bn worth of cuts to social security for disabled people which are expected to push 400k people into poverty. It is completely unjust to see the UK Government once again try to balance the books on the backs of disabled people. That also has financial implications for the Scottish Government’s devolved social security benefits.

“After almost a year in power, we had expected the UK Government to take action on the two-child limit – an unjust policy that forces 80 children into poverty every single day. Thousands more children will be in poverty by the time the Chancellor considers the policy again at the Autumn Statement.

“It doesn’t have to be this way. We’d like to see the Government take a different road at the next budget – and make changes to their self-imposed fiscal rules and look seriously at the tax options being put forward by Tax Justice Scotland and our UK counterparts, so we can pay for the things our economy and society needs to function.”

Disability Rights UK: Fight the CUTS!

Disability Rights UK have launched a new page on the DR UK website containing information and resources regarding the recent green paper plan on benefit cuts and how people can get involved in responding.

The fallout from the recent announcements of benefit cuts and reforms has sent shockwaves through Disabled peoples organisations, disability charities and allies such as Amnesty, the Trussel Trust and many more, who all agree the cuts proposed will be catastrophic.

According to the Government, the benefits system is out of control, with far too many disabled people wrongly receiving benefits. This is not the true picture.

Social security spending overall is not increasing in any significant way.

Inclusion London have made clear that in 2023/4 the UK spent 4.88% of GDP on non-pensioner social security payments, which is lower than it was in 2009 (5.75%), the comparison year the Office for Budget Responsibility used in its 2024 Welfare Trends Report on incapacity benefits.

This is a long-term trend is steady back to the 1990s. Fraud rates for disability benefits are practically non-existent: (PIP) fraud stood at 0% in the financial year ending 2024.

It is a fact that half of all people in poverty are disabled people. Disabled people can’t afford food, energy, housing and transport, and are the biggest users of Food Banks.

The community also faces additional costs related to impairments and health conditions, amounting to up to £1k extra a month and yet the Government intends to take £5 billion pounds from Disabled peoples incomes with its benefit reforms.

With the spring statement offering even less hope, there no humanitarian or economic sense of pushing more disabled people into poverty: we need to act.

The OBR has not yet been able to forecast any employment gain from the cuts/changes to incapacity & disability benefits, so effectively MPs are being asked to support these cuts without any clear assessment of what it will achieve.

These cuts are purely about saving money, nothing else. DR UK and its allies will not stay silent as benefits are cut, public services are slashed, & our rights are eroded, join us in the fight.

The Our new web page contains what action you can take how you can get involved in campaigning against these thebenefit cuta proposals how you can respond , for example responding to the consultation write writing to your MP and protesting.

Learn more about what we campaign on, and how you can campaign with us by visiting the Take Action page

Fraser of Allander analysis: The welfare bill under pressure

We have heard this week that the UK Government Chancellor Rachel Reeves intends to make cuts to the welfare bill to bring UK Government borrowing down in line with her fiscal rules ahead of the next OBR forecasts due at the end of the month (writes Fraser of Allander Institute’s EMMA CONGREVE). 

Reports state that the axe is likely to fall on health and disability related benefits for working age people.

Here we produce a bit of an explainer to get people up to speed on the benefits in scope and what has been happening in recent years.

Which benefits could be in line for cuts?

There are two types of benefits in Great Britain (benefits in Northern Ireland are arranged differently) that working age people with disabilities and ill health can claim.

Incapacity Benefits

The first type is an income replacement benefit that tops up income for families where the disability or health condition limits their ability to work, commonly referred to as incapacity benefits. They are means tested so that the amount you receive depends on your household income and reduces as income (e.g. from a partner’s earnings) rises.

Chart: Caseload of incapacity benefits for working age adults, Scotland

Notes: Universal credit and ESA exclude those in the assessment phase in line with OBR Welfare Trends Report analysis. Northern Ireland not included.

Sources: DWP, ONS

Universal Credit (UC) has been slowly replacing Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) for this group of people since 2018 so the reduction in ESA over time reflects migration over to UC rather than a change in disability/health status.

Disability Benefits

The second type of support for those with disabilities and ill health comes from payments to cover additional costs, for example due to reduced mobility, and are commonly referred to as disability benefits. They are not means tested and people do work whilst they are on these benefits.

In Scotland this type of benefit is now devolved, with Adult Disability Payment (ADP) slowly replacing Personal Independent Payment (PIP). PIP itself was a replacement for Disability Living Allowance (DLA) which no longer takes new applications and has a caseload that is reducing over time.

Chart: Caseload of disability benefits for working age adults, Scotland

Note: Adult Disability Payment started to replace PIP in Scotland from 2022. In England and Wales, PIP remains the main payment.

Source: DWP, ONS, Social Security Scotland

Which benefits are devolved?

Incapacity benefits (UC and ESA) are reserved benefits which means they largely operate in the same way across Great Britian, with the cost of the benefit in Scotland met by the UK Government. Any cuts made by the UK Government would apply in Scotland.

Disability benefits (PIP. SDA and ADP) are devolved, and there are differences in how the benefits operate in Scotland. The Scottish Government meets the costs of the benefit. To offset this, an amount is paid from the UK Government in the block grant, equivalent to the UK Government’s spending in Scotland if the benefits hadn’t been devolved and if spending had grown at the same per capita rate as in England and Wales.  

The Scottish Government has to find additional money if expenditure on Scotland starts to diverge from the rest of GB trend due to policy changes (or perhaps, if our population gets relatively sicker).

Any cuts to PIP or SDA made by the UK Government would not apply in Scotland, but the block grant from UK Government would fall. If the Scottish Government did not replicate the cuts, they would have to find additional money from elsewhere in the Scottish Budget to offset the fall.

What has changed since the pandemic and has it been the same in Scotland as the rest of Great Britain?

As the above charts show, the caseload (the number of people claiming these benefits) has been rising steadily in recent years for both these benefits across GB and is forecast to continue to do so.

The caseload in Scotland has long been higher than in England and Wales due to a higher prevalence of people with disabilities and long-term health conditions.

In recent years, incapacity benefits caseload growth has been slower (49% in Scotland compared to 59% in rGB between May 2019 and August 2024) but due to different levels of population growth caseload per capita (which is the caseload measure shown in the charts) has been slightly higher in Scotland (7% to 11% of working age population compared to 5 % to 8% for rGB).

For disability benefits, the introduction of Adult Disability Payment makes it difficult to compare like-with-like. Although eligibility has remained broadly the same, the application process has been made more accessible and this appears to have led to an increase in people applying following its introduction.

For more detail on this, see this paper from our sister organisation the Scottish Health Equity Research Unit (SHERU). It’s also possible that some people in Scotland delayed making a PIP application to DWP in anticipation of ADP opening for applications.

This may help to explain why, since 2019, the growth in the caseload in Scotland has been only slightly higher than rGB (63% increase in Scotland between May 2019 and Aug 2024 compared to 61% for rGB). In per-capita terms, due to lower population growth in Scotland, the growth has been a bit more significant (increase from 8% of the working age population to 14% in Scotland between May 2019 and Aug 2024, compared to 6% to 9% for rGB).

Do we know why rates have increased?

There are many theories as to why rates have increased but, for a number of reasons, it has been difficult to fully evidence exactly what is going on.

We know from IFS research that rates have increased more in Great Britain than they have in other countries. The IFS also looked at entry and exit rates for disability benefits England and Wales and concluded that around 2/3 of the increase is due to people starting claims and 1/3 is due to fewer people ending their claim.

There are likely to be a number of intersecting factors. We summarise some of these issues below but overall emphasise that we don’t fully know the extent to which these interact.

The working age population is getting older

On average, people’s health deteriorates as they age. With falling birth rates there are currently proportionally fewer younger working age people than older working age people. Coupled with this, pension age changes mean that more older people have become classified as ‘working age’ in recent years. The Resolution Foundation have calculated that an ageing working age population accounts for 1/5 of the rise in caseloads for health-related benefits since the pandemic.

The increases for younger people are concerning but the biggest impact on expenditure would come from tackling ill-health and disability in older age groups

For disability benefits, the growth has been highest in the older working age population, with then broadly comparable rises across other age groups. For incapacity benefits, after the 55-64 age group the second largest rise has come from 25-34 year olds. Growth in the number of young people out of work due to disability and ill health are concerning and needs attention, but if rates are going to come down, focussing on the older generation is key. Whilst we can’t fully attribute the rise to longer waiting times in the NHS, this is likely to be part of the explanation.

Some of the rise may be due to people struggling financially and needing to maximise benefit income

This rise in benefit caseloads has coincided with relatively high rates of inflation and the ‘cost of living crisis’. People struggling financially may have been more likely to make claims during this period compared to previous years when they did not feel they needed the extra income.

There is also some suggestion that people may have switched the type of claim they make for out-of-work benefits to benefit so they can receive a higher level of payment for disability and ill-health related claims. The fact that they are successful in these claims means that people are simply claiming what they are entitled to rather than somehow ‘gaming the system’.

Mental health related claims have grown, but so have claims related to other conditions

The largest absolute rise in claims for disability benefits has been related to mental health conditions, but across Great Britain, there have been rises in a range of physical conditions too (see IFS and SHERU work on this linked above). The extent to which this is due to an increased prevalence of health conditions versus an increased likelihood to claim a health-related benefit is difficult to disentangle.

There has been a rise in the in-work population reporting a disability as well and it may be that people are becoming more comfortable with disclosing mental health conditions. This could mean that people with multiple health conditions are more comfortable with citing mental health as their primary condition in benefit claims now than was previously the case.

We don’t know how much is due to long-covid or longer-term impacts of the pandemic

The extent of available data frustrates efforts to pin down the emergence of new or worsened conditions due to the pandemic and how this has changed people’s financial circumstances (for example, ability to work).

Issues with the official Labour Force Survey have limited the usefulness of the data collected there on reasons for ill health and inactivity (see SHERU blog on this issue here) and qualitative research that is able to produce more in-depth insights usually can’t be scaled up to population level.

As more longitudinal data is made available that tracks people through the period, alongside progress towards more routine data linkage of health records to other administrative data sources such as tax records, we might be able to get a better picture of the intersecting factors that have changed people’s health, benefit and work status in recent years.

What happens next?

The Spring Statement is due on the 26th March. When we know what the proposals are, we’ll be able to unpick what this will mean for people in Scotland and for Scottish Government budgets.

Whilst cuts to welfare spending may help in the short term, longer term solutions are tied up with efforts to improve both living standards and the ability of public services to support people further upstream (for example, through the NHS and employability services) which can reduce their need to recourse to the social security system.

Any decision to make cuts could come with fiscal risks. Cutting benefits for people already experiencing ill health and disability could make their conditions worse and increase demand for public services and/or lead to longer-term reliance on non-health related benefits.

A recent BBC verify article also provides a note of caution: reducing spending on the welfare bill is historically difficult and estimates of savings are often not achieved.

As well as looking at the details of the cuts, we’ll be looking at what the OBR say regarding their effectiveness of cutting UK Government spending with a keen eye.

Westminster welfare cuts ‘damaging our people’

New report examines evidence of impact in Scotland

Social Security Minister Jeane Freeman says that women, disabled people and young people would be those disproportionately affected by damaging UK Government welfare cuts.The Minister was commenting on a Scottish Government report detailing the impact of UK Government welfare cuts on people across Scotland published yesterday.

The statutory report, which was submitted to the Scottish Parliament, estimates the impact of all welfare measures passed by the UK Government between 2010 and 2017 drawing upon independent analysis by the Office for Budget Responsibility.

Based on the latest forecasts, it is expected that the UK Government annual social security spend in Scotland will reduce by £3.9 billion by 2020/21. In addition, hundreds of thousands of people have lost or will lose some of their benefit payments.

Local authority level analysis suggests that West Dunbartonshire, North Ayrshire, Dundee, Inverclyde and North Lanarkshire will see the most significant falls in welfare spending by 2020/21 relative to their working-age population size.

Social Security Minister Jeane Freeman said: “This report presents the stark reality of the UK Government’s austerity programme which imposes unjust welfare cuts that not only continue to cause misery and push more people into poverty, but also directly affect local economies across Scotland and attract international criticism.

“These cuts are damaging our people and they are harmful to our communities.  Every pound taken away from those entitled to financial support not only affects those individuals and their families, it is also a pound less that is spent locally.

“Shockingly, with many of the harshest cuts still to come, the reforms will reduce spending on welfare in Scotland by nearly £4 billion a year by the end of this decade.  This is in addition to the 9.2% (or £2.9 billion) real terms cuts between 2010-11 and 2019-20 that the Scottish Government will see in the day-to-day budget that pays for public services – and that is before the further £3.5 billion of cuts that are expected to be applied to public spending across the UK in 2019-20.

“That will obviously have an impact on the amount of money the Scottish Government has available within its budget to spend.  And while we have used over £350 million since 2013/14 to mitigate against the worst damage, it is simply not possible to for us to mitigate all of the UK Government’s welfare cuts without major reductions in our expenditure in other vital public services, in growing our economy and in providing real opportunity to our young people

“The UK Government is responsible for all of this damage to individual lives and local communities and we will continue to use every opportunity to press the UK Government to reverse these unjust policies.  They need to recognise that social security is the foundation of a just and decent society and that everyone, no matter their social or economic status, deserves to be treated fairly and with dignity and respect. ”

Yesterday the Scottish Government laid regulations in the Scottish Parliament to help people by making their Universal Credit payments more flexible.

The regulations, which represent the first use of the new devolved social security powers, will give Universal Credit claimants in Scotland the option of :

  • being paid Universal Credit twice a month rather than monthly
  • having their Universal Credit housing element being paid directly to landlords

Welcoming this, Ms Freeman continued: “We have consistently said the new social security system in Scotland will treat everyone with dignity, fairness and respect.  Introducing this flexible approach to Universal Credit demonstrates this and I look forward to the new regulations coming into force and making life that little bit easier for a number of people.”

The flexibilities will come in to force on 4 October 2017 and, because Universal credit remains a reserved UK Government benefit,  will be delivered by the DWP on behalf of the Scottish Government.

This year the Scottish Government will spend around £454 million on measures that either directly mitigate the changes introduced by the Act or are part of wider measures tackling poverty in Scotland.

Scottish Ministers are required by the Scottish Parliament to report annually on the Welfare Reform (Further Provision) (Scotland) Act 2012.

The report is published here: http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2017/06/6808 

Following this publication, a series of shorter reports will be published later this year focusing on groups who are particularly affected by UK Government welfare cuts. The reports will cover the impact on children and families, people with disabilities and the impact of welfare reform on homes and housing. 

Universal Credit remains a reserved benefit.  In January the Scottish Government committed to introducing flexibilities for Universal Credit. More detail can be found here: https://news.gov.scot/news/scottish-flexibilities-for-universal-credit

The Universal Credit (Claims and Payments) (Scotland) Regulations 2017 can be viewed here: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/

The Scottish Government’s also today published its response to the Consultation on Universal Credit (Claims and Payments) (Scotland) Regulations 2017, which can be viewed here: http://gov.scot/Publications/2017/06/8512

Continue reading Westminster welfare cuts ‘damaging our people’

Home truths: benefits cuts biting deep

On Tuesday next week M, a local mum and her young family, will lose their home. M and her children are the next family among dozens of local women and children who will find themselves homeless through no fault of their own over the coming weeks – and North Edinburgh groups have joined forces to demand changes to the system. Continue reading Home truths: benefits cuts biting deep