The Conservatives have pledged to save £2.8bn a year by ending Disability Living Allowance (DLA) payments to families of children with “milder cases” of behavioural disorders, learning difficulties or ADHD.
The policy is one of a series of measures which the party says will save £36bn from the welfare budget.
Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately said the system risked putting children on a “conveyor belt” towards a “lifetime on benefits”.
Labour described the Tories’ plan as a “charter for homelessness and human misery that would push people into hardship and end up costing the state more”.
DLA for children allows parents to claim between £30.30 and £194.60 per week to help cover the additional costs that come with raising a disabled child.
The child must either have difficulty getting about or need more looking after than a child of the same age who does not have a disability.
The Conservatives say child DLA is the “fastest growing benefit in the UK’s welfare system”, citing government statistics showing the number of cases had risen from 521,476 in 2020 to 914,000.
The party is proposing that in cases where a claim is for a behavioural disorder, learning difficulty or ADHD, only those with the highest need will be eligible for cash payments.
Under the party’s plans, those with the most severe conditions, representing around 30% of cases, would continue to receive payments.
The remaining 70% would lose the money but instead receive support through mental health services and family hubs, into which the Conservatives have said they will invest £1bn.
The changes would apply to new claims and reassessments. Those with physical disabilities would be exempt.
The party’s other previously-announced cuts include:
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£13.7bn from changes to sickness and disability benefits including restricting payments to claimants with “milder mental health issues and neurodiversity conditions such as anxiety, depression and ADHD”
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£9.5bn by making it harder for foreign nationals to claim benefits
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£4.5bn by reducing local housing allowance payments
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£3.1bn by reintroducing the two-child benefit cap
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£1bn from tackling fraud
Setting out the party’s plans, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said: “The reality is that millions of people can and do contribute to our economy, to their families, to their communities even when they face serious challenges.
“Double amputees run marathons. People who are housebound do wonderful creative work from home. People with autism run some of the biggest tech companies in the world.
“If you tell a young person that their ADHD means they are defective and will never amount to anything, that mindset is likely to be more destructive to their future than the condition itself.”