The UK government’s proposed legislation to overhaul disability-related benefits is drawing sharp criticism from rights groups and social policy experts, who warn that the changes could devastate vulnerable communities and deepen poverty.
The draft bill, published this week, aims to cut £4.5 billion from disability-linked welfare payments by 2030. It includes freezing the additional health-related support within Universal Credit for people with qualifying disabilities until the end of the decade. New claimants would receive only half the current support, despite rising living costs.
The reforms would also freeze rates for legacy benefits supporting those with limited capability for work, and tighten the eligibility criteria for the Personal Independence Payment (PIP). PIP is a crucial benefit for people with disabilities who require daily care, and the new rules could exclude hundreds of thousands of recipients.
According to the government’s own impact assessment, up to 800,000 people could lose eligibility for PIP, while 200,000 more people—including 50,000 children—could fall into poverty if the changes are implemented.
Disability rights organisations, including Citizens Advice, the Disability Charities Consortium, and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, have strongly opposed the proposed changes. They argue that the reforms are unjust, degrading, and will leave many disabled individuals without the financial support they need to live with dignity.
Critics have also condemned the tightening of PIP’s qualifying test, which already faces widespread criticism for treating essential daily activities like bathing or preparing food as measurable metrics in a way that disregards the complexities of disability.
Parliament’s Work and Pensions Committee recently urged the government to delay the bill, citing the risk of increasing hardship. Similarly, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Poverty and Inequality released a report calling for the legislation to be scrapped.
Despite growing opposition, the government insists that the reforms will target support more effectively by protecting those with the most severe conditions or who are terminally ill. However, campaigners say this offers little relief to the hundreds of thousands of disabled individuals facing the prospect of losing vital income.
Advocates urge Parliament to reject the bill and prioritise the right to social security, warning that cost-cutting cannot come at the expense of human dignity.
