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Labour has announced its plans to slash the welfare bill and push more people claiming disability benefits into work.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) green paper on welfare sets out reforms which have been criticised as the “biggest cuts to disability benefits on record”. They include £5bn of cuts which will see the eligibility criteria for personal independence payment (PIP) tightened, and the health element of universal credit reduced for new claimants. 

Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, said in parliament “millions who could work are trapped on benefits – denied the income, hope, dignity and respect that we know good work brings”.

Read more of Big Issue’s analysis of Labour’s benefit reforms:

• Benefit cuts are a ‘violation of human rights’ which will harm ill and disabled people, Labour warned
• DWP’s new unemployment benefit and changes to work capability assessments, explained
• How Labour’s changes to universal credit are going to impact millions of Brits

A record 2.8 million people are out of work due to long-term illness, and spending on disability and incapacity benefits for working-age people is up by £19bn in real terms since 2019-2020.

Government ministers claim that the numbers of people out of work due to sickness is “indefensible and unfair”, but they have been met with criticism from Labour MPs and charities, who have repeatedly warned that benefit cuts would be “catastrophic”.

They have argued that disabled and ill people will be pushed into poverty by the cuts, putting greater pressure on public services including the NHS and social care. Cuts will also likely lead to worsening mental and physical health, which could push people further away from the workplace.

Elements of the government’s plans have been broadly welcomed, including the promise of personalised and tailored employment support for people including those with severe health conditions.

But experts have said they fear that the cuts will erode trust in the DWP and mean that people are less likely to engage with employment support.

Here, we outline what changes to disability benefits have been announced and what they could mean for claimants.

Eligibility criteria for PIP tightened

Fewer people will be eligible for personal independence payment (PIP) under Labour’s proposals. The DWP has announced that a minimum of four points must be ‘scored’ on one daily living activity to receive the daily living element of the disability benefit.

These activities include preparing food, taking nutrition, managing therapy or monitoring a health condition, washing and bathing, managing toilet needs and incontinence, dressing and undressing, communicating verbally, reading and understanding signs, symbols and words, engaging with others face to face, and making budgeting decisions.

You will now have to score a minimum of four points on at least one of these elements. It means that people with three points or less for each activity will lose their entitlement in the future.

This requirement will need to be met in addition to the existing PIP eligibility criteria. The mobility element of PIP will not be affected.

Conservative government proposals to replace PIP with vouchers or to means-test PIP will not be taken forward. Additionally, PIP will not be frozen, as had been rumoured.

No reassessments for people with severe disabilities or illness

People with the most severe life-long illnesses and disabilities – those who have no prospect of improvement and will never be able to work – will no longer have to face regular assessments to get their disability benefits. They will also have their incomes protected.

Face-to-face disability benefits assessments will be increased. Currently, only 7% of PIP assessments and work capability assessments are carried out face-to-face.

The government has also pledged to undertake a review of the PIP assessment. It is looking at recording disability benefits assessments as standard to improve trust.

Work capability assessment scrapped, but Tory changes not taken forward

Labour has decided not to take the previous government’s proposed interim changes to the work capability assessment, which would have seen hundreds of thousands of people miss out on support by 2029. It follows a consultation into these changes being ruled unlawful.

But it will continue to scrap the work capability assessment and use the PIP assessment to assess the entitlement for the health element of universal credit. Eligibility for this will be based on the impact of disability on daily living, not on the capacity to work.

Any health-related financial support in universal credit will be targeted at those with long-term conditions and disabilities that have lasted for three months and are expected to last for at least a further nine months.

It will reduce the number of assessments that many people go through. There are 1.7 million people who currently go through both the work capability assessment that the PIP assessment, who will now only undergo one assessment.

Universal credit to rise for people actively looking for work – but there will be cuts for the health element

The universal credit standard allowance is being increased to “promote work”. A single person aged 25 and over will get an extra £7 per week, from £91 per week currently to £98 per week in 2026 to 2027.

For people who already get the health element of universal credit, that will be frozen at £97 per week until 2029/2030 – representing a real terms cut to the health element, although these people will also benefit from the raise in the standard allowance.

No one who has been found to have limited capability for work and work-related activity (LCWRA) prior to April 2026, and remains so after reassessment, will see their universal credit health entitlement changed.

However, for new claims, the rate of the universal credit health element will be cut by £47 per week, from £97 per week in 2024 to £50 per week in 2026/2027.

As with disability benefit PIP, people on the health element of universal credit with the most severe, life-long health conditions will have their incomes protected and will not need to be reassessed in the future.

People will have a ‘right to try’ work without risk of losing benefits

The government has pledged that working in itself will not trigger a reassessment or a potential loss of benefits, to remove the risk of people trying work whilst on benefits. This will be established in law.

Labour has said this will to “give disabled people the confidence to start working without the fear of an immediate benefit reassessment if it does not work out”.

People in receipt of the health element of universal credit will continue to have a work allowance, so they can earn up to £404 a month before their income from universal credit is affected, or up to £673 a month if they don’t have a housing amount in universal credit.