Proposed reforms to the welfare benefit system: How this might affect you?

12 April 2025 | Blog, News, Support

In the Spring Budget 2025 the UK government announced a series of proposals designed to help get more people into work and cut the costs of social security benefits.

Many of these plans are still in development, but if implemented could impact many people in the brain tumour community.

As someone who sees on a daily basis the financial and practical burden that many individuals and families face following a brain tumour diagnosis,  our specialist Welfare Benefits Support Professional, Vicki Size-Bailie, responded to the potential impact of the proposed changes:

Brain Tumour Support welcomes the government placing importance on the need to support disabled people and to break down barriers in order to achieve equality. However, we can’t ignore the concerns raised by the proposed welfare reforms.

It must be acknowledged that, instead of being supportive to all disabled people as the government suggests, these reforms are likely to reduce the financial support available to people with disabilities and long term health conditions and cause further disadvantages to people most in need. This also has the effect of placing further stresses and strains on the NHS and other support services.

Any proposal which could cause the people who are amongst the most vulnerable in society to struggle even further is alarming, and we urge the government to reconsider these changes.

The proposed changes

We appreciate that many people will be feeling confused and worried about the recent announcements about reform of the welfare benefit system. The following summary, explains the key proposed changes:

Summary of changes to PIP (Personal Independence Payment)

The criteria to qualify for PIP is being tightened, meaning it will be even more difficult to qualify for this benefit and fewer people will be eligible for PIP. Currently, a minimum of 8 points must be scored over the daily living activities in order to qualify for the ‘standard’ rate. To qualify for the ‘enhanced’ rate, a minimum of 12 points must be scored over the daily living activities. The new rules mean you’ll need to score at least 4 points in any one daily living activity to keep getting that part of PIP.

Example:
Person A scores four points in three separate PIP daily living activities and has a total of 12 points would still qualify for the enhanced daily living component of PIP.

Person B scores two points in seven different PIP activities has a total of 14 points. Currently, they will qualify for the enhanced rate of the daily living component. However, under the new rules, they will not qualify because they have not scored at least four points in a single activity.

The mobility component of PIP will not be affected by these changes.

The government is not consulting on these changes, but Parliament may need to agree on them.

Summary of changes to the Assessment Process

Currently, the vast majority of assessments are done remotely, usually by telephone. Under the proposals, this will change and there will be an increase to the amount of face-to-face assessments.

The government have also proposed that more assessments will be recorded, suggesting there will be more trust from claimants in the assessment reports and decisions.

Summary of changes to the Work Capability Assessment (WCA)

The Work Capability Assessment will be scrapped. Instead, from 2028/29 onwards, the PIP assessment will be used to assess the entitlement for the health element of Universal Credit (UC). This means that eligibility for this element will be based on the impact of disability on daily living, not on the capacity to work.

This interacts with the tightening eligibility for PIP, meaning that someone who loses the daily living component of PIP would also lose the ‘health element’ in UC – a payment for people with limited capability for work-related activity (LCWRA) – see more on this below.

Summary of changes to Universal Credit (UC) and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)

From April 2026, the standard allowance of UC will increase by £7 a week.

Currently, when a disabled adult is claiming UC, they can sometimes qualify for an extra UC payment if they have a disability or health condition which means they are not only unfit to work but also unfit to undertake any work-related activity. This is the limited capability for work and work-related activity element (LCWRA).

The LCWRA element is currently an extra £95.78 per week (£416.19 per month). This is being rebranded as the ‘health element’.

The government is proposing a number of changes to this extra UC payment. It wants to:

• Freeze the LCWRA element rate for existing claimants for three years – between 2026 and 2029/30. This means the payment will not increase with inflation during that period. All Universal Claimants getting a LCWRA element will be worse off in real terms, taking into account inflation.
• Cut the LCWRA rate from £97 to £50 per week for new claimants who qualify for the element.
• Introduce a new disability payment in Universal Credit to compensate those who qualify for the new lower rate of LCWRA. This will only apply if they have ‘the most severe, life-long health problems who have no prospect of improvement and will never be able to work.’
• Scrap the work capability assessment. Entitlement to the LCWRA element (re-branded the health element) will be solely based on whether that disabled person qualifies for PIP.
• Raise the age someone can receive the health element of UC to 22 – This particular proposal is being consulted on and would not come into effect until 2027/28

Changes to contribution-based benefits

Contributory benefits such as ESA and JSA will be changed into a single, non means-tested, time-limited benefit to ensure people get the support they need to find a new job that meets their needs.

What can I do about these changes?

You can write to your MP and explain how these changes would affect you or your family.

You can also respond directly to the consultation here.

If you need help with this please contact Brain Tumour Support.

To find out more about the help we can give through our specialist welfare benefits service, click here.