Liz Kendall promises to fix ‘broken’ benefits system | UK News

The work and pensions secretary has set out plans to “fix the broken benefits system” and tackle the “perverse incentives” driving people to depend on welfare.

Liz Kendall said the changes would create “a more proactive, pro-work system for those who can work”, while protecting those who cannot.

Eligibility for disability payments will be restricted to those with the greatest need, and the test to qualify for the extra universal credit payment for health conditions will be replaced.

The health-related top ups will also be frozen for current claimants and reduced for new applicants.

The package of measures is expected to reduce benefits spending by more than £5bn a year by 2029/30.

Spending on health-related benefits has ballooned in recent years and is forecast to continue rising in the coming years.

However, some Labour MPs and charities are worried about the potential impact of restricting benefits on vulnerable people.

In response to these concerns, the government has abandoned the idea of a one-year freeze to the level of personal independence payments (Pips), which provide help with extra living costs for people who have a long-term physical or mental health condition.

But Kendall said eligibility for the payment – the main disability benefit in England, Wales and Northern Ireland – would be tightened.

Under the current system, applicants are scored on their ability to carry out everyday tasks.

From November 2026, there will be an additional requirement to score a minimum four points in at least one activity to qualify for the daily living element of the payment.

The mobility component of Pips, for those who need help getting around, will not be affected.

Kendall announced work capability assessments, which are used to determine whether someone is fit to work and if they can receive additional benefits payments because of a health condition or disability, would be scrapped in 2028.

She said the assessments were “complex, time-consuming and often stressful for claimants”, as well as being based “on a binary can-can’t work divide”.

In the future, financial support for health conditions will only be available through the Pip assessment, based on the impact of someone’s health condition rather than their capacity to work.

In an attempt to tackle the “financial incentive to define yourself as incapable of work”, Kendall said from April next year the extra amount of universal credit for a health condition or disability will be frozen for existing claimants and cut for new claimants.

There will be an additional premium for people with severe, lifelong conditions that mean they will never work.

Meanwhile, there will be a permanent, above-inflation rise to the standard allowance of universal credit – equivalent to a £775 annual increase in cash terms by 2029/30.

The government will also introduce a “right to try”, to guarantee that people who try out a job will not lose their existing benefits if it does not work out.