Debt advisor warns disability benefit cuts could push people into poverty
A leading debt expert has warned that proposed cuts to disability benefits risk pushing vulnerable people into poverty.
Speaking after Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered her Spring Statement in the Commons today, Dan Bebbington, Debt and Energy Manager at The Wrekin Housing Group, said planned changes to Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and Universal Credit would remove vital support from those who depend on it.
The Chancellor’s statement confirmed the Government intends to reduce its spend on disability benefits by making them harder to claim, in what it says is a shift in focus towards helping people to access suitable work.
Mr Bebbington said: “The proposed reforms to disability benefits are extremely worrying.
“While some measures the Government has put forward, like scrapping the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) and investing £1bn in employment support, may appear promising, the overall impact on disabled people could be incredibly damaging.
“One major concern is replacing the WCA with PIP assessments to determine financial support. Many disabled individuals currently reliant on Universal Credit’s health top-up or Employment Support Allowance (ESA) do not qualify for PIP, and the PIP assessment was not designed to assess work suitability.
“With stricter PIP eligibility rules set for 2026, thousands could lose benefits they depend on.”
In order to qualify for PIP, claimants must currently score a total of eight ‘points’ across a range of daily living activities. This threshold will remain under the new rules, with the added requirement that claimants must score at least four points in one single activity to qualify.
Mr Bebbington said: “This could lead to more refusals and increased financial insecurity for disabled people and those with health conditions, who will now be under even more pressure to ‘prove’ how their day-to-day life is impacted.
“The freeze of the Universal Credit health top-up for existing claimants, and its reduction for new ones from 2026 by almost 50%, worsens the financial challenges for vulnerable individuals.
“The delay in access to the Universal Credit health top-up until age 22 will also unfairly impact young disabled people transitioning into adulthood.
“It seems that the reforms being put forward are driven by a desire to cut the welfare bill, rather than improve the lives of people who rely on these payments due to disabilities and health conditions they did not ask to have.”
It had been rumoured that other harsh cuts would need to be brought in to enable the Chancellor to stick to her self-imposed spending rules, including removing universal free school meals for children in England up to Year Two, and further extending the tax thresholds freeze past 2028.
Mr Bebbington said: “While it is disappointing that the Spring Statement didn’t include any announcements to help struggling households, these measures would have done further damage to hard-working people on low and middle incomes already struggling with the cost of living, so their omission is welcome.”
Pic: Dan Bebbington, Debt and Energy Manager at The Wrekin Housing Group
