Back in March, Government announced the biggest shake up to the welfare system in a generation to ‘get Britain working’. The proposed reforms unveiled by the Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall were backed by a £1bn investment and designed to ‘help sick and disabled people who can and have the potential to work into jobs’. However, the reception from many of the Government’s own MPs, along with the care sector, was far from favourable, leading to the Government performing an about turn and scaling back its plans. This turnaround has also been criticised.
What were the original proposed changes?
Government set out ‘new measures designed to ensure a welfare system that is fit for purpose and available for future generations – opening up employment opportunities, boosting economic growth and tackling the spiralling benefits bill, while also ensuring those who cannot work get the support they need as part of the Government’s Plan for Change.’
This included:
- Scrapping the Work Capability Assessment and introducing a ‘right to try’ work guarantee in a bid to remove barriers to work.
- Targeting Personal Independence Payments (PIP) for those with higher needs by changing the eligibility requirement to a minimum score of four on at least one of the daily living activities to receive the daily living element of the benefit, in addition to the existing eligibility criteria. The Government proposed to work with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to ensure that existing people who claimed PIP who may no longer be entitled to it following an award review under new eligibility rules would have their health and eligible care needs met.
- Rebalancing payment levels in Universal Credit to improve the Standard Allowance, raising it above inflation by 2029/30, adding £775 annually in cash terms.
- Consulting on delaying access to the health element of Universal Credit until an individual is aged 22 and reinvesting savings into work support and training opportunities through the Youth Guarantee.
MPs and those in the care sector particularly criticised the requirement for PIP claimants to prove they need a higher degree of assistance with tasks such as preparing and eating food, communicating, washing and getting dressed. Mark Winstanley, Chief Executive of Rethink Mental Illness, said, ‘Our own research has found that people already face an uphill battle to access benefits such as Personal Independence Payments, with claims often rejected because assessors do not adequately take account of mental illness. Removing financial support without a clear plan to address the drivers of mental illness and bring down lengthy waiting lists for treatment will not boost the number of people in work, but instead risk deepening the mental health crisis facing the nation.’
What concessions has Government since made?
In June, Government confirmed that it will make major concessions to MPs in the Labour party who criticised the planned benefits reforms. More than 100 back benchers demanded change, leading to Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall telling Labour MPs that claimants of PIP would continue to receive what they currently get, as will recipients of the health element of Universal Credit. Instead, the planned cuts will only affect future claimants. More carers will also remain eligible for Carer’s Allowance. This means that the Government’s original planned saving of £5.5bn has dropped to £2.5bn.
Right now, there is a lot of fear and anger in the disabled community about the Government’s proposed welfare changes. These are not just policy lines — they affect real lives. Employment for disabled people is already tough. Systems are inflexible, needs change day to day and many of us rely on a safety net that feels increasingly fragile. People want to work, but societal barriers like inaccessible transport, inflexible workplaces and negative attitudes make it feel impossible sometimes. Employment means more than a pay cheque — it is about dignity and independence. But juggling the challenges disabled people face just to do everyday things that many take for granted is exhausting. We need a system that is fair, accessible and supportive — for those ready to work and those who need more help to get there. The recent Pathways to Work report and Disability Rights UK’s response highlight that 2.8 million people are out of work due to ill health or disability. The current sanctions-focused approach just does not work for most people. What is needed is personalised, compassionate support shaped by those with lived experience. Co-production and co-design are not buzzwords — they are essential if welfare reform is going to work. Policies made without disabled people at the table risk missing the mark, causing harm instead of help. We need to treat lived experience as expert knowledge and build systems that join up health, social care, housing, transport and employment support. Ken Butler from Disability Rights UK rightly points to systemic barriers — from employer discrimination to the lack of reasonable adjustments. The Equality Act, flexible working rights and Access to Work must be central to any reform. It is time disabled people lead welfare reform. Nothing about us, without us. Isaac Samuels OBE, Lived Experience/Co-Production Advisor, Think Local Act Personal (TLAP). X: @TLAP1 Email: [email protected]
Welfare reform is not just about systems and services, it is about people’s lives. For disabled people, welfare policy determines whether we can pay for basic essentials and the extra costs of disability and live with dignity, independence and security. Yet successive governments approach reform through a negative lens. A lens that sees us as burdens, as fraud risks or as ‘not trying hard enough’ to work. This harmful narrative has driven policies that punish rather than support, isolate rather The recent savage cut to Universal Credit for disabled people claiming from next April and proposed restricted eligibility to Personal Independence Payments (PIP) (thankfully fought off for the time being) highlight a fundamental issue – reforms are being designed about us, not with us. They are shaped by people who rarely reflect the communities they legislate for. Despite claiming to represent the whole of society, Government decision-makers do not reflect the diversity of the country, and disabled people, in particular, remain grossly underrepresented in positions of political power and influence. This disconnect leads to policy-making that lacks both insight and empathy. The absence of disabled voices in designing welfare reform results in systems that are degrading, bureaucratic, unfit for purpose and sometimes life threatening and that will ultimately push us deeper into poverty and crush our spirit and talent. The ‘concessions’ on PIP recently announced are not a substitute for true coproduction and it remains to be seen whether the Timms PIP review will genuinely co-produce with disabled people and our representative organisations. At Disability Rights UK, we champion a different approach – one that centres disabled people as rights-holders and experts in our own lives. If we are not involved in shaping the decisions that affect us, those decisions will continue to fail. Co-production and structured engagement are the only credible paths to effective public services and welfare reform. We do not need sympathy or surveillance. We need to be listened to, respected and involved, because reform without us is not just unjust, it is bad policy. Kamran Mallick, Chief Executive Officer, Disability Rights UK. X: @DisRightsUK Email: [email protected]
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