Labour is set to unveil cuts to benefits today amid mounting fury from backbenchers. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will meet his Cabinet this morning to sign off the package aimed at getting people back to work and bringing down the rising welfare bill.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall will outline plans in the House of Commons this afternoon. Downing Street has insisted 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 ». But there has been growing disquiet from Labour backbenchers ahead of the anticipated changes.
There have been reports that the changes involve £5 billion of savings to the benefits bill.
PIP
It has been suggested that the bulk of the cuts will hit personal independent payments (PIP) with eligibility criteria to be tightened.
PIP is the main disability benefit paid to people with long-term physical or mental health conditions to help with extra living costs.
The reforms are expected to include a « right to try guarantee » that would allow disabled people to enter employment without risk of losing their benefits if it did not work out.
But the scale of the backlash from Labour MPs has reportedly prompted a rethink of rumoured plans to freeze the level of PIP rather than increase it in line with inflation, delivering a real-terms cut to 3.6 million claimants.
Ministers insist that reform is necessary, given the number of people in England and Wales claiming either sickness or disability benefits has soared from 2.8 million to about 4.0 million since 2019.
The benefits bill has risen with this increase, reaching £48 billion in 2023-24, and is forecast to continue rising to £67 billion in 2029-30.
Sickness benefits
Ministers have also promised to stick with Tory-era plans to slash spending on sickness benefits by around £3billion by 2030. Ms Kendall wants to use some of the money saved into employment support for those looking for a job.
Universal Credit
As well as this, Labour could hike the basic rate of Universal Credit paid to jobseekers or those already in work. This currently stands at just over £311 per month for a single person over 25.
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