Supporting residents through disability benefit changes: what you need to know

Following the government’s latest announcement on sickness and disability benefit changes, we discussed the key revisions and their impacts on BBC Moneybox.

In this blog post we recap and outline what councils should be doing before the reforms come into effect.

The biggest changes to sickness and disability benefits announced by the government are:

• Eligibility for the daily living component of Personal Independent Payment (PIP) is becoming stricter. At the moment a score of 8 points in total across 10 different activities is required to receive the standard rate of support. After this change, applicants will need to score a minimum of 4 points on at least one daily living activity as well as a minimum of 8 points overall. This means that one in four people who currently receive PIP, around one million people, will not be eligible if they are reassessed after the implementation date.
• The Universal Credit Limited Capability for Work Related Activity (UC LCWRA) award will be frozen for existing claimants and halved for new claimants, reducing from £97 to £50 a week. Eligibility will be linked to PIP.

Read Reforming benefits and support to get Britain working: What the changes to sickness and disability benefits mean for more details

Many people will be feeling anxious and worried about what these changes will mean for them.

Local authorities and other frontline organisations can remind residents that:

• these changes aren’t immediate, they won’t come into effect for at least a year
• changes to assessment criteria will apply to new applicants before existing claimants and
• reassessments typically have a gap of at least two years.

The government argues that many disabled people want to work but aren’t getting the support to do so, and that claims for disability benefits are growing faster than the prevalence of health conditions. They point to positives as part of this package of reforms, notably a £7 a week boost to the UC standard allowance, taking the payment from £91 to £98 a week. Time limited contributory benefits will also be increased to the higher ESA rate of £138 per week.

The government also points to investment in employment support and what they say is additional funding for health and social care. They argue that, with the right aids and adaptations, some people could become more independent while incurring a one off rather than an ongoing cost, and that people with “the most severe, lifelong health conditions” will receive an additional premium to protect their income.

But this investment needs to be delivered to people who need it.

For councils, helping people to navigate the social care system will be critical to helping them access adaptations. Councils can also help to engage residents proactively in voluntary employment support. This year’s £240 million of devolved employment support is set to be expanded across this parliament.

Smart councils are using data to engage residents by targeting people most likely to be impacted. Councils can help people today, using data to help people access support that includes social tariffs, council tax support and discretionary payments. This proactive outreach lets residents know you are there for them.

While additional support from councils will make a difference, there is no getting away from the fact that these changes will have a serious impact on household finances for some of the most vulnerable people in your area. Reforms of this scale can’t avoid taking support away from some of those in greatest need, and there is a real risk that sick and disabled people could become ‘invisible’ to the system unless they are unwell enough to qualify for support.

The £5 billion shortfall in the next parliamentary term won’t just affect over a million disabled people who may lose out – it will also impact their families and friends as well as social care workers.

Councils will need to collaborate with the government and local partners to ensure that support such as employment opportunities, adaptations, and health and care services are established and making a positive impact before the reforms take effect. Without effective support, these changes are likely to deepen poverty in the regions most affected.

We are encouraging everyone, individuals and organisations, impacted by the reforms to feed into the consultation which is open until 11.59pm on 30 June 2025. The green paper, Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working, can be found here, and the consultation here.

Policy in Practice has analysed all councils to show the likely economic impact in each local authority as these reforms rollout. Councils using our LIFT platform can identify individual households at risk of losing out, allowing them to offer proactive support.

If you would like this analysis for your local authority, free of charge, please contact hello@policyinpractice.co.uk.