PIP payments and universal credit changes affecting millions to be announced

Cuts to welfare will be announced on Tuesday amid mounting backbench disquiet about the potential extent of the reforms. Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall is expected to outline plans to get more people back to work and cut the cost of the rising benefits bill.

Reforms to the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) are now widely expected, with Downing Street saying there is a "moral and an economic case" for an overhaul and that the changes would put the welfare system "back on a more sustainable path." There have been reports that the changes could slash some £5bn of welfare payments.

The changes will include making it harder to qualify for PIP, as around £5bn of the floated £6bn in cuts focuses on the disability benefit claimed by 3.6 million people. Read more about the Personal Independence Payment could see big changes

Ministers had also reportedly been looking at freezing PIP payments to prevent the payment levels from rising with inflation, as all benefits do, in 2026. However, it is understood that pressure from backbench MPs over the plans has led to this idea being taken off the table. There has been mounting unease on the Labour Party's backbenches ahead of the anticipated changes.

Welsh Labour MP Steve Witherden is one of many who has said he is "very concerned" about planned cuts to welfare. The Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr MP called on the UK government to introduce a wealth tax as it looks to make savings.

Witherden said he had specific concerns about any changes to Personal Independence Payments, or PIP, and he did not want disabled people's ability to work jeopardised.

Whitehall insiders have indicated that there could be a freeze or reduction to the health-related element of Universal Credit, which is a separate benefit, for those with long-term sickness. This could be accompanied by a boost to the incomes of Universal Credit claimants seeking work.

Analysis by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation also points out that, if the full amount in cuts were to go ahead, it would be the biggest cut to disability benefits since the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) was created in 2010.

Labour Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham warned that changes to eligibility and support while leaving the system as it is would "trap too many people in poverty".

Ms Kendall sought to reassure MPs on Monday that the reforms would ensure "trust and fairness" in the social security system and make sure benefits are available "for people who need it now, and for years to come".

Ministers insist that reform is necessary, given the number of people in England and Wales claiming either sickness or disability benefit has soared from 2.8 million to about 4.0 million since 2019.

The benefits bill has risen with this increase, reaching £48bn in 2023-24, and is forecast to continue rising to £67bn in 2029-30. That would exceed the current schools budget. Number 10 has denied that the plans are purely as a result of the UK's difficult fiscal situation.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to deliver a spring statement on March 26 against the background of a faltering economy and drastically reduced headroom against the debt rules she set herself in October.

"I think the Prime Minister has been clear there is both a moral and an economic case for fixing our broken social security system that's holding our people back, and our country back," the Prime Minister's official spokesman told reporters.

"That is why tomorrow the Government will set out plans to overhaul the health and disability benefits system so it supports those who can work to do so, while protecting those who are most in need, and put the welfare system back on a more sustainable path."

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